One Last Time
by The Hope Lions
Summary: Four years have passed since Nina left Sibuna without a true explanation. Nina is an exchange student unable to escape her destiny. Fabian is a history major who wants to forget his past. Eddie is a college drop-out without a purpose in life. But there is one more mystery to solve, and they need to work together-one last time.
1. Chapter 1

Hello. My name is Hope. Most of you probably don't know me. I was very popular in this fandom about 3 years back. I stopped writing HOA as I got further into high school, but I recently received a request to go back and write a new HOA fic. I didn't think I would, I didn't have a plot, but then this idea was born. It's a bit mature at first, bordering on M, but I'm going to keep it T because really this kind of stuff is in pg-13 things all the time. Anyways enjoy. It's good to be back. I'll update as I write, so no set schedule, but I'm on break right now so things should come fairly fast. Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 1

She was never supposed to see him again. She was never supposed to see any of them again. When she'd chosen not to return to Amun Boarding school she'd chosen never to see any of them again, but she'd especially chosen to never see _him_ again.

And yet, there he stood in front of her, just a few hundred feet away. He looked much the same, perhaps a little bit older, a little bit surer, a little bit…manlier, but much the same. His back was turned to her; he had no idea she was standing there, frozen, just behind him. She didn't need to see his face, however, to see the crinkle of his eyebrows or the blue oceans of his eyes. Even though years had passed she still knew this boy, this man, just as well as she knew herself. Nina knew he could never change, not the way she had.

There was a part of her, the sane part most likely, that said she needed to just run. Lots of people panicked when they finally arrived for their year abroad. Nina would lose a bit of money, and it would be difficult, but she could turn around and go back to Massachusetts that very second. He never would know she'd been there in the first place. He never would know that she'd walked away for the second time.

But it had been four years since Nina had last seen him, and she'd changed quite a bit in that time. She'd never been a coward when faced with danger, but when faced with reality Nina had always run away. No more. The last few years hadn't been kind to Nina, and she now knew that you can't just run away from the messes life throws at you. Sometimes you need to stand firm and just let life punch you in the gut.

Nina shut her eyes, took a deep breath, and prepared to call out his name. Just before she could, however, a different voice beat her to it. "Fabian!"

Fabian turned at the voice, and Nina could see the smile on his face. It was a smile that had once been reserved only for her, and her stomach dropped when she realized just who the girl was, or, specifically, just whom the girl was to Fabian. "Eva!"

The two embraced, and Nina turned away when she saw Fabian tilt his head down to kiss 'Eva'. The feeling of jealousy the spiked within her was ridiculous, Nina knew that, but she couldn't make it go away. Instead she found herself backing away. She wasn't about to run back to Heathrow Airport, but she couldn't dare stand around and watch this.

* * *

Fabian pulled away from Eva as he caught a flicker of movement in the corner of his eye. If he hadn't known better he would have said it was… well that it was _her_. Obviously it wasn't of course. She has been gone for four year, and she'd never even been in London. Fabian was just hallucinating, or perhaps it had just been someone who looked similar. Nina was a pretty common looking person. (Or so Fabian had been telling himself for years. He was almost to the point of believing it as well.)

"You okay?" Eva asked noting Fabian's distraction. There was a hint of hurt in her eyes, and when Fabian grabbed her shoulder it was remarkably tense. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Fabian had seen a ghost, but not in years. That was his past, his secret legacy no one would ever believe. It was certainly nothing Eva would ever know about. "I'm fine," Fabian assured her with a quick smile. "I just thought I saw someone watching us," he admitted before massaging her shoulders to loosen them up a bit. "I've got to go see my advisor about one of my classes. Come over to my apartment for six."

"Netflix and chill?"

Fabian rolled his eyes, and planted a kiss on her soft lips, "Dinner."

Eva wiggled an eyebrow, as if that would change his mind, but let Fabian go on his way. He hurried across campus to his advisor's office, but despite there still being 10 minutes left to office hours, the lights were all off.

"Damn it, I guess I'm stuck in the Egyptology Seminar. It's almost as if the universe doesn't want to give me a break," Fabian muttered to himself. On the bright side, however, he now had extra time to gather supplies for dinner with ever over-excited Eva.

But Fabian didn't mind her eagerness because he loved her. He loved her more than he'd ever loved someone before. (Or at least that was what he told himself every night before he went to sleep.)

* * *

"You can't fucking do this to me!" Eddie Miller howled banging on the door. He knew Jed, his landlord, was still right on the other side, but the elder man wasn't responding. Jed knew that if he opened the door his drunk-former-tenant would probably punch him in the face. "I didn't do shit to deserve this!"

Eddie kept banging, but he got no answer. Finally he hit the metal door so hard that his skin began to bleed, and he gave up. Letting out a string of curse words, Eddie wrapped his hand in one of his old shirts and laughed when he realized just how old the shirt was. It was one of his old uniform shirts from high school. He hadn't even realized that he still had any of those shirts. He didn't realize he still had anything from those days. He certainly didn't have any of the joy or luck he'd had in those days.

Eddie opened up his phone and noticed that the battery was almost dead- just one more thing going wrong. There was just enough battery for him to make one call. He was tempted to call Patricia. She was in school in London still, and while it had been two years Eddie knew her well enough to know she'd come. She'd come and make fun of him. She'd come and yell at him for what he'd done to himself. She'd come.

Of course his father would come as well. He would, undoubtedly drive all the way from Liverpool to pick up his son. He wouldn't yell or scream or throw things, but his disappointment would be just as palpable as Patricia's. What was worse, he'd want to help Eddie. He'd want to do something to fix his son.

But you can't fix what's broken and you can't bring the dead back to life. Eddie didn't want Patricia's disappointment or his father's help. There were others who Eddie could call, but then he'd owe them favors, and they weren't exactly the kind of people you wanted to owe favors.

Finally Eddie just let his phone die and hailed a cab. There was one person he could go to who would offer neither judgment nor help. Eddie had to admit that he'd only kept track of where Fabian was living for this exact reason. Fabian would let Eddie crash for one night while Eddie decided whether he should continue ruining his life or just end it. Fabian was good at dealing with broken people.

"280 High Holband, London," Eddie told the cabbie before adding on, "Please."


	2. Chapter 2

Thoughts? I respond to every review. Also do you guys think this is too much for the T rating? I have seen TV-14 shows with stuff like this, but it's also a lot. Thoughts?

* * *

Chapter 2

Fabian was thrilled when a knock on the door interrupted him and Eva's little make-out session. His body of course didn't recognize this excitement, but his mind did. Eva was, not for the first time, pushing things a little too far for Fabian's liking, and the banging on the door was a major mood killer.

Fabian waited until Eva got her shirt back in place, and then opened the door. It took him a good few seconds to even realize who was on the other side, but when he did Fabian cursed, "Crap Eddie, what the heck happened?"

Eddie tried to grin, but his mouth was a little lopsided, "I know, I look like shit. Can I come in?"

Fabian opened the door wide, and Eddie took a step forward. As he did he stumbled a bit, and Fabian reached up to grab him. It was only then that Fabian realized just how horrible Eddie looked. His blond hair was untidy and dirty, as if it hadn't been washed in weeks. He had a thick layer of stubble that looked as if it had been hastily shaved; some bits were thicker than others. His eyes were surrounded by dark purple bags, and their pupils were constricted. "Eddie, are you high?"

Eddie didn't even try to deny it, he simply nodded. Fabian flashed Eva a pleading look, and she sighed before getting up and helping Fabian move Eddie to the couch. Eddie was moving fairly steadily, but Fabian didn't really trust the guy not to collapse.

"Your girlfriend is hot," Eddie noted, smirking when he noticed that Eva hadn't 100% fixed her shirt. "Not as hot as Nina or Patricia, but still hot."

Fabian blushed a deep red, but Eva beamed with the praise. "Thank you," she told Eddie before grabbing her jacket. "I think I should go Fabian. I'll see you tomorrow."

Fabian nodded, but didn't even get up to see her out. Eva huffed a little, but Fabian knew she'd be fine. Eddie on the other hand… It had been at least a year since Fabian had last run into his friend. He'd known Eddie was in London, a lot of their former schoolmates were, but the city was big. Eddie and Fabian had been running with different crowds since Patricia and Eddie broke up so Fabian had only seen him every once in a while, at the grocery store and such.

It had been in a grocery store that Fabian had last run into Eddie, and he'd looked horrible then. Now, now he looked on the brink of death. "What happened?" Fabian asked, and he wondered if he even wanted to know.

"My landlord found me shooting up, said he didn't want the cops to end up at his door, and kicked me out. I just need a place to stay for the night."

Shooting up- Fabian wasn't stupid or naïve as he'd once been. He knew what that meant. "Since when do you do heroine? Since when do you do drugs period?"

Eddie shrugged, "I started with weed right after graduation. It helped at first, but then it didn't. I've been trying different things since, stopping whenever what I'm using begins to no longer affect me. Patty didn't tell you?"

"I haven't spoken to Patricia since you two broke up," Fabian admitted with a sigh before getting up and starting to make some tea. "She never told me why though. I'm going to assume this has something to do with it?"

Eddie nodded, but then he looked a little green. "She didn't like the idea of me throwin' my life away. She didn't get it though. She didn't get that I have nothin' to throw away. I died. I died and I came back, but not really. I would have been better off staying dead."

Fabian really didn't like the sound of that. Had this really begun with the Touchstone of Ra? Had the Osirian spirit dying broken Eddie more than any of them realized?

"You should have told me," Fabian sighed handing Eddie a cup of tea. Eddie grimaced at it a bit, but when he took a sip Fabian noticed him look a little bit better.

He still didn't sound much better, however, "You wouldn't have understood. None of you ever did. Nina would have gotten it I bet. She knows what it's like to have a whole other spirit inside of you, but she ditched us before explaining shit about how this worked."

Wow, Fabian had never thought about it like that. Eddie had just stepped into his role as Osirian so flawlessly; Fabian had never realized that Eddie didn't have a clue what his powers meant. "I'm sorry," Fabian meant it, he really did, but he knew the words weren't enough. "I should have realized you were struggling. I should have tried to help you."

"It's whatever," Eddie waved it off. "I just need a place to crash until I can find a new apartment."

Fabian nodded, "Okay. The couch is yours, but Eddie you need help. You can't just do heroine! It's killing you."

"I'm already half dead," Eddie reminded Fabian his eyes feeling heavy with the weight of the drugs. "Maybe I'm just going back to my rightful state."

Eddie fell asleep right after that, but woke up a few hours later. He supposed he probably felt like shit, but he was so used to feeling that way that he didn't even notice. Besides Eddie knew that the feeling of crushing weight and lack of purpose wasn't because the drug wore off, that was his natural state, the drugs were there to numb it.

* * *

Eddie wasn't 100% sure he could point to the exact moment when he realized that he literally didn't have a purpose in life anymore. It was probably a few weeks after graduation. He and Patricia had been on vacation together at Eddie's mother, and Eddie realized that he didn't really care about how beautiful Patricia looked. The sex was wonderful, but it didn't make Eddie feel any less empty. He felt… he felt the way he had before he'd come to Anubis House. He felt empty, without direction.

It was a few months later, after Patricia had left, that he made the connection. Eddie was one of the few people who came into the world with a literal destiny. He'd been destined to be the Osirian, to protect the Chosen One, to fight when some god was trying to destroy the world. Then the Osirian died, and Eddie's destiny disappeared. His purpose in life had been to be the Osirian, and when he no longer was the Osirian Eddie felt the way he'd been before he was the Osirian. It was no wonder Eddie felt like he didn't have a purpose in life; he didn't. The only reason Eddie hadn't just gone out and killed himself was probably the fact that he knew what sort of afterlife he'd be facing, and he wasn't sure his heart wouldn't be too heavy when weighed against a feather.

So Eddie continued to be alive even though he couldn't live anymore. He wished he hadn't had to come and dump everything on Fabian, but he really hadn't had another choice. Still Eddie noticed the light in Fabian's room was on, and that meant Fabian was up worrying about him.

 _I'll be out of here soon enough and then he won't worry about me again._ Eddie thought. _He can go back to his life, his girlfriend. Damn she's all wrong for him. I only saw her for five minutes and I could tell that. Then again the only one really right for him was Nina, or so it appeared. In the end she wasn't right for anyone; she screwed us all. If I ever see her again I'll make her regret it._

* * *

Nina Martin sat in her apartment three floors below unable to fall asleep. For her it was only 1 AM, and she'd been staying up that late on a consistent basis since she was in college. After all, in college there are no creepy old men dropping pins at 10 o'clock.

She was lying in bed, but sleep didn't seem like it was coming anytime soon. Nina dreaded having to get up for her 8 AM seminar on Egyptology. She'd taken the class mostly as a joke, but if only she'd found one a little later in the afternoon.

Nina sighed and sat up. Perhaps if she made some calming tea… No, Nina stopped herself before even getting out of bed. She knew the issue was not jet lag or the need for tea. Nina knew why should couldn't sleep. She knew that sooner or later she'd find herself face to face with Fabian, and then she'd regret ever coming back to England.


	3. Chapter 3

Few notes:

To the Guest Who asked- I do have a soft spot for strong Neddie friendships, but I only ever write Fabina and Peddie for romantic relationships. In part because that's what people want to see, in part because it's just what I'm used to. So Neddie friendship, but no Neddie romance.

A Note on the Universe- This does not take place in the same Universe as my old Ring of Osiris fics. However I did a lot of world building in those fics to explain some things that the show never had time to go into detail about. Since I don't feel like reinventing the wheel I'll be using some of those world building things. Don't worry if you haven't read those fics, I'll explain everything again in this fic, but if you did read those and recognize some bits that's why.

Thirdly- I'm not writing anything Star Wars right now, but I'm actually sobbing at the moment, so I just wanted to take a moment to say rest in peace to Carrie Fisher. You were our Princess, our Hutt Slayer, our Rebel and our hero. It was Carrie's fighting spirit which made Leia so great, and I truly wish I could have known her personally. Rest in peace and know your legend will live on.

Finally- Drop a review if you have any questions or just want to talk. Talking to readers is my favorite bit. I've made some true friends over fanfiction.

ENJOY!

* * *

Chapter 3

Nina was practically asleep at 8 AM the next morning, but she made it to her seminar on time. The room was small, it was only a 10 person seminar, and the professor was a middle-aged man named Professor Geffen. He smiled at Nina when she entered the room, and she didn't doubt that he already knew all ten people in the class.

"Nina Martin, am I correct?" He asked coming over to her. Nina nodded, shaking his hand firmly as he smiled brightly. "Normally I only allow my top students from my lectures into my seminars, but your Adviser at Tufts, Professor Michaels, is an old friend of mine and recommended you when he found out you were here for the semester. I hear you have quite a passion for Ancient Egypt."

Nina nodded, "Yeah, I sometimes feel like it's all around me, and I've just picked things up along the way."

"Modest of course," Professor Geffen smirked. "You'll get along well with the other students in this class I'm sure. They should all be here shortly."

He let Nina take a seat and settle in after that, and soon enough the others did show up, all except for one. It was 8:01 when Professor Geffen, his brows tight with confusion, stood up despite the empty chair. "Well I'm sure he'll have a good explanation when he gets here. Hello everyone. I won't bother trying to impress you with my credentials as I handpicked you all from among my best students so you already know how brilliant I am. Before we begin I would like to assign your term paper. No less than 50 pages on any topic of Egypt from First to Third Dynasty or classical Egyptian Mythology. I want your topics by the end of the week. Now I want to discuss today why we know what we do about Ancient Egypt. I'm sure all of you know the basics of Egyptian history and mythology, but why? How do we know so much of a culture which has so little in common with the culture of modern Egypt? Tutankhamen's tomb is one of our greatest sources of knowledge, but why was it one of the few that was never raided. Why was he forgotten?"

Professor Geffen looked about ready to answer his own questions when the door opened and their last classmate rushed in. "Sorry Professor Geffen, it won't happen again, I promise," he stammered.

Nina felt her blood go cold, and she tried to shrink into her chair. She'd known it would happen, but she'd thought she might have some time at least. Apparently not. Apparently she wouldn't have any time at all because she didn't have enough textbooks with her to hide in a room so small.

"Mr. Rutter, please take your seat. You've already disrupted us enough," Professor Geffen sternly told Fabian. Fabian seemed not to even hear him, however, because he continued to stare at Nina. She couldn't even blame him for doing so. She'd had the same reaction the day before when she realized that her study abroad was at Fabian's school. He hadn't known she was there. He hadn't been prepared. It was no wonder he was shocked.

"Mr. Rutter, I must ask you to either take a seat or leave." Professor Geffen's threat was enough to break Fabian from his shock, and he sat down in the only available seat (which luckily was on the other side of the room from Nina). "Now as I was saying, the fact that Tut was forgotten..."

* * *

Fabian couldn't focus, which would undoubtedly be a bad thing since Professor Geffen could basically cover everything that would be on their final during the first day. Still Fabian could not focus. Not with… not with _her_ sitting on the other side of the room.

She hadn't seen surprised to see him, though perhaps a little panicked. Fabian couldn't believe she was there, that she was back in England. He hadn't heard from her in almost four years! First Eddie showed up at his doorstep then Nina showed up in his seminar? It was insane! Coincidences like that were not supposed to happen. Of course odd coincidences had always seemed to happen around Nina, she was just special like that. (And of course he meant special in the sense of freak, because what else could he possibly mean. She'd left him. He could not possibly still think of her as the wonderful person he once had.)

Fabian was freaked out that she was there, but he tried to think on the bright side. Eddie had been saying that the only one who could understand was Nina. Fabian would talk to her just enough to get her to talk to Eddie, and that would be it. If Nina could help Eddie than Fabian would endure the pain of speaking with her. But that would be all. He would just ignore her. If she wanted to study abroad at Kings College London she could; she was not going to be seeing her old boyfriend while doing so.

Still, as decided as Fabian was, he could not help but think about Nina the whole class. How had she been? Why was she here in London? What happened to her Gran? Had she moved on? Did she have a boyfriend? Was she still the Chosen One? Why had she never even called? Why had she really left?

Fabian didn't know, and asking her would hurt too much. He didn't want the answers, he knew he didn't, and yet he couldn't help but wonder obsessively about Nina's past four years. He couldn't help but obsess over why she'd left.

Fabian wasn't over it. He'd pretended for years to be past it, but he'd loved Nina and then she'd just dropped off the face of the planet. It hurt. It had always hurt. Fabian did not like her being back and ripping that wound right back open.

But he would deal if it would help Eddie. He would deal, but he would have no dealings with her. He had Eva now. He didn't need Nina one bit.

When class was dismissed Fabian practically ran after Nina. (Solely to ask her about Eddie of course), but he was stopped by Professor Geffen. "Mr. Rutter may I speak with you for a moment."

Nina was already disappearing across campus, obviously to avoid the inevitable confrontation. "Professor I'm very sorry it won't happen again but now is not a good time."

"How do you know Nina Martin?" Professor Geffen's blunt words stopped Fabian, but he cast a final glance over his shoulder to see if he could still see Nina. (He could not.)

"Sorry sir, what did you say?"

"I asked how you knew Nina Martin. I saw your reaction to her when you came in. I saw her reaction to you. She's from America but obviously you two know each other. I'm curious as to how well."

Fabian was curious why Professor Geffen cared. Still Geffen had been nothing but good to him since his first year when Fabian had been the only freshman in a sophomore lecture. It was (mostly) a harmless question. "We went to the same school for a few years. I haven't spoken to her since she left. I was… surprised to see her, that's all."

Professor Geffen narrowed his eyes, as if trying to gauge how much Fabian was leaving out. He must have come to a very specific conclusion too because he blurted out, "Were you her Osirian then? I heard the spirit died but that the man came back to life."

Fabian's heart practically stopped beating for a minute. How did Professor Geffen even know what the Osirian was never mind about the spirit dying but not Eddie? How did he know anything about that at all? "Sir, I'm sorry I don't know what you're saying."

Fabian Rutter had lied on a daily basis for years; he'd never gotten any better at it. Professor Geffen didn't even feel the need to call Fabian out on his lie. "Please Mr. Rutter, I'm one of the foremost Egyptologists in the world. Do you truly think I'm ignorant of the fact that the gods and spirits of myth are not myths and that they continue to try and make appearances in our world? There are a number of people who are aware of what Miss Martin has done for the world. She need not know that I am aware, it would do nothing but frighten her, but I was curious of what you knew from the day you gave me a detailed analysis of Robert Frobisher's stolen artifacts, the ones that supposedly never existed in the first place. I allowed Miss Martin into my class because I was curious of what I could learn from her, but now that I've seen your connection I'm curious as to what I can learn from you. Are you the former Osirian?"

"No," Fabian stated. He didn't like the fact that people knew about Nina without her even knowing they knew, and it bothered him that Professor Geffen could be so coy about the whole situation. "Nina was my girlfriend years ago but the connection was solely infantile, not some form of destiny. I knew about the Frobishers because my school was their old house. If you want to know more about the Egyptian crap ask Nina. I've spent a long time trying to forget about it completely. I'm only in this seminar by mistake. I'll probably have dropped the class by tomorrow."

"I would urge you not to," Professor Geffen's shoulders were stiff and annoyed. Clearly he'd expected Fabian to handle the whole topic with grace. How anyone could handle the Egyptian gods being real with grace, however, remained to be seen. Perhaps at seventeen Fabian had thought it cool and fascinating, but at 21 he knew it was something best left alone.

"You need to tell Nina that you know tomorrow or I'm telling her," Fabian told the Professor. "And you need to never bring this topic up with me again."

Professor Geffen snorted at Fabian's words, "How ironic- a history major who wishes to forget his own past. Dropping my class would be a good way for you to do that I am sure. As for Miss Martin…for someone who claims your connection was infantile you're awfully protective of her. I cannot help but wonder if you're even aware of the reasons why… You may go Mr. Rutter. Promise me, however, that you'll think long and hard about why you wish to drop my class. Do you truly want to forget the past or do you just want to forget Miss Martin?"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Nina could only hide from Fabian so long. Kings College London was far larger than Tufts University, where Nina went, but it still wasn't a huge school. She had to eat lunch and Fabian knew exactly which dining hall a girl on her first day would use. He knew exactly how to find her.

"Hi," Nina muttered as he sat down across from her. He didn't even have a tray, and it was obvious he wasn't aware of everyone staring at them. "It's good to see you."

Fabian didn't seem to think it was good to see her, not from the way his face was wrinkled or his muscles were taut. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Nina cringed a bit at his terse words, but she also knew she deserved them. Her leaving… it had been wrong. She should have at least called. She only didn't because it would hurt her, but obviously never calling hurt Fabian as much as it had protected Nina. "I'm doing a study abroad. I didn't even know you went here if that's what you're wondering."

"You would have known if you ever spoke to any of us again after you left."

Each word he said was like a dagger in Nina. She'd never seen Fabian so bitterly upset. Was it only because of her? Had he changed and become like this all the time? The idea of Fabian having become something so sad and cruel was even more painful than leaving him had been.

"I'm sorry. I should have stayed in contact but I thought you all would be safer if you didn't know what I was up to. I've made as many enemies as I've made friends you know."

Fabian seemed thrown by the idea that Nina had continued to have strange Egyptian interactions even after leaving Anubis House. He didn't ask about them, however. No he just shrugged, "It doesn't matter. I'm over it. I moved on. I'm only talking to you because you're not the only one from Anubis House who has suddenly walked back into my life. Eddie showed up at my doorstep yesterday. He's a mess. He was pretty high but he said something about you being the only one who might understand. If you ever cared about any of us you'll at least try and talk to him."

Nina bit her lip. It hurt to think that Fabian believed she hadn't cared. She'd loved him. She'd loved them all. Leaving Anubis House had been like watching them all die.

Except they hadn't died. Nina had left and they'd all survived. Who knew how many of them would have been dead if they'd been around for the Book of Thoth or the Coffin of Osiris? She didn't even want them to know about those little messes, never mind for them to have been there. So she'd been right to leave, but apparently it hadn't left them without a certain level of pain as well.

"Of course I'll talk to Eddie. I don't know if there is anything I can do to help him but I'll try. I hate the idea of any of you hurting. You have to know that that has never changed."

Fabian stared at her for a moment, and the look on his face called Nina a liar. "Whatever. Just talk to Eddie, will you? He doesn't deserve this."

No, no Nina doubted any of them deserved the lives they got because Nina showed up at Anubis House the same day Joy 'disappeared.'

* * *

Eddie didn't have any drugs with him, and it was seriously bothering him. He wasn't addicted. He didn't feel the need for the drug itself, but he needed something to make the feeling disappear. He'd been covering up the feeling of being lost for years; he couldn't stand it for only a few hours.

Eddie's head was in the fridge when he heard the door open, but he just assumed it was Fabian and didn't look up right away. When he finally turned around and looked up he wondered if, perhaps, he was somehow still high. "Ah. So the drugs have finally gone to my head."

"No Eddie. I'm real," Nina promised reaching forward to grab his arm. "I'm doing a study abroad and ran into Fabian. He asked me to talk to you… he said you've been having a hard time?"

Eddie snorted. Of course Nina would just somehow show up. He remembered enough about how those things worked to know that strange coincidences involving Nina were more likely than drug-induced hallucinations. "Of course. So now you swoop in, solve the mystery, and fix everything, am I right?"

Nina took a step back, clearly hurt by his bitter tongue. A part of Eddie wanted to say 'good, she deserves the pain', but another part of him, the part of him that was once destined to protect her, felt bad for hurting her. In the end neither side won, and he just let it be.

"When did you get so bitter? I thought Fabian sounded depressed. You're practically a different person," Nina whispered shaking her head.

But despite her appearance of guilt, despite her looking pained to see Eddie like this, her words of ignorance got right under Eddie's skin. "I died Nina! I died and while a part of me came back a part of me didn't. And it was your fault. I was meant to protect you, not fight Ammut or Ra! I didn't know what I was doing and people got hurt and I died because of it. It wasn't my job, it was yours, and you didn't do it and I died! So when did I get like this, well when you took off and left me to do your job."

Nina visibly flinched this time, and moved to sit down on the couch. Her legs looked like they were practically shaking, and she took a rattling breath, "I'm sorry Eddie, I really am. I didn't mean to leave you to deal with those things. I thought you would be safer without me there attracting those kinds of things… and you were. Ammut and Ra were horrible, but you all survived, more or less. The ones around me when I faced the gods and ghosts that found me weren't always so lucky. I'm sorry you had to deal with those things, and maybe I do have the abilities you didn't, but my leaving was to protect you, all of you."

Eddie didn't know what she was talking about. He'd always assumed that the weird Egyptian things only happened at Anubis House. Had they happened other places as well? Had Nina continued to deal with these dangerous situations alone? If so that only pissed Eddie off more. "It wasn't your job to protect us! It was my job to protect you! I had one purpose in life, one. The only reason I could do shit against Ammut or Ra was that, sooner or later, they'd have hurt you wherever you were, but I wasn't meant to fight them alone and the Osirian died. So now I have no purpose in life. Do you know what it feels like to literally not have a purpose in life? Other people have to find their purpose, but you and I were born with ours. I can't just get a new life purpose. Can you imagine what it would be like to just no longer be the Chosen One?"

Nina bit her lip and shut her eyes. Eddie couldn't figure out exactly what she was doing, but it reminded him a bit of prayer. (Not that he'd ever been one to pray.) Finally Nina opened her eyes, but it wasn't 100% Nina before Eddie now. He could see a bit of the spirit of the ancient Chosen One in Nina now. "The way you feel now, did you feel the same way before you were the Osirian? You used to get in a lot of trouble, did you act out because you didn't feel like you had a purpose?"

Eddie nodded; that was an easy question. The longer he'd stayed at Anubis House, the longer he'd stayed with Nina, the more he'd found his path. Once he was fully the Osirian he barely acted out at all. As complicated as life could be, it was easy when you knew what you were meant to be doing. "Yes. Perhaps it's a bit worse now because now I knew what it felt like to have a purpose, but it's more-or-less the same."

"Then know that I do understand the feeling. I lived sixteen years before I was the Chosen One. I remember what it felt like to not have a purpose and I would do anything to go back and change things so you didn't lose your Osirian spirit. But there is another answer than drugs."

Eddie snorted, but actually went to sit beside her. Even without the Osirian spirit being near her, remembering the need to protect her from Senkarah, made it a little easier for Eddie to breathe. "What magical answer is there? You know as well as I do what it feels like to have a destiny. It's grounding. It makes you feel sure of every decision. Without a purpose, without the ability to ever find a purpose, I literally don't have a reason to be alive."

Nina shut her eyes again, clearly struggling with something. "I should have come back," Nina's voice was practically a whisper, and filled with regret. "I knew what had happened and thought it was even more of a reason for me to stay away. You were normal again. I thought that meant you'd be safe, happy. I was wrong, and I'm so, so, so sorry. If I'd known I could have done something earlier."

Eddie perked up at those words, his heart fluttering a little bit out of synch. Done something _earlier_? "Does that mean you can do something now?"

It took Nina a moment, and during that time she bit her lip so hard it drew blood, but finally she nodded slowly. "I mean _I_ can't do anything, but I know some… people… who can. Give me a little bit of time, okay? Spend a few days here with Fabian. Try to sober up, and give me a few days to see if An, if anyone can help you. But just… just think on this okay? I know there are times I'd rather the pain of not having a purpose than the pain of failing at my purpose. If I find a way to make you the Osirian again it will be permanent. Be sure it's what you want, okay?"

Eddie nodded, his heart beating rapidly. For the first time in years he had the hope that things might get better, that he might have a path again. He was still furious at Nina for having run away and left him for so long, but if she could really reinstate his nature as the Osirian… Well if she did then he'd have no desire to hurt her at all and he'd certainly have an easier time forgiving her.


	5. Chapter 5

AN: Anyone want to donate 100$ to me so I can buy the complete set of House of Anubis DVDs? They took it off Amazon Prime and I'm sad. Anyways, enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 5

Nina Martin did not mind that it was January and there was snow on the ground. She sat alone in the dark, the gates of Putney Vale Cemetery having been shut hours before. She wasn't technically supposed to be there, but she'd stopped caring about curfews and restricted places years ago. Besides it wasn't like anyone would notice her in a cemetery, not when she was technically in a different plane of existence that was.

Nina was in the Du'at, the realm of the dead, and the home to the gods in their most natural form. Most people couldn't go into the Du'at at all (until they died that is), but Nina's Chosen One spirit made it possible. It could be difficult at times though, and so Nina tended to head toward cemeteries, centers of the Du'at's power, if she intended on making a long connection.

Or so she said at least. In reality Nina had just developed a very dry sense of humor and found the irony to be too good to pass up.

"You know I can find you even when you're not near centers of death."

Nina looked up at the man speaking to her. (Well man didn't really define him). As far as she knew Anubis didn't technically have a human body and he just appeared however she expected him to. Why she expected him to appear as a fairly-attractive-but-slightly-emo-twenty-something was left to be seen, but she did. Anubis's hair was always black and a little shaggy. His eyes were a dull shade of brown, sunken and hollow. Creepy would be a fairly apt word for him, and yet also slightly alluring. Even the first time Nina had seen him, even before she knew who he really was, she'd been attracted to him. It wasn't necessarily the physical type of attraction, though perhaps there was some of that. Mostly Nina had just sensed his power, his weight. Sometimes it felt like the whole of the Universe revolved around Anubis. And maybe it did. Sometimes it felt like all of life revolved around death.

"Nina," Anubis interrupted her thoughts by literally snapping her to attention. "Are you alright? You don't normally come looking for me unless something is wrong."

Nina smirked; normally she didn't have to come looking because Anubis dropped in on a regular basis. He hadn't visited Nina in weeks however, not since they'd fought over her coming back to England, so she'd had to seek him out. It wasn't like she knew when, or even if, he planned on ever coming to see her again. Still, she wasn't about to say that. She and Anubis had an interesting relationship to say the least, and she made it her personal duty to give him a hard time. In fact he was the only one she could think of that she purposely tried to annoy. "What makes you think that I'm looking for you? Perhaps I'm just seeing the sights."

And Nina was very good at annoying Anubis. "You're sitting on Howard Carter's grave," Anubis told her, scowling at her sass. "The Chosen One does not sit on Howard Carter's grave unless she's waiting for someone Egyptian. And since I'm practically your secretary when it comes to all things Egyptian I would know if you were meeting someone else."

"Ah, speaking of you being my secretary, has anyone tried to get a hold of me since you decided you were going to give me the silent treatment?"

Anubis rolled his eye, but a list popped into his hand. "Sobek wants to continue your conversation about some alligator heart. Qebui and Shu are fighting and both want you to help them win. Tefnut claims she's only tell you what she needs, which means it probably has something to do with the aforementioned fight."

"Isn't she Shu's wife?" Nina wasn't 100% sure on exactly how everyone was related, but she was certainly getting better.

Anubis nodded, "Yeah, like I said, it's probably about their fight. Also Wadjet is offering you some amulets which would probably be good to take, she's a protection goddess after all, and Pthah-Se wants to talk to you about some house she runs to help 21 century people come to terms with the fact that the Afterlife isn't the Heaven they expected."

Okay, Nina was improving, but she certainly wasn't as good at knowing everyone as Anubis. Then again he had a few thousand years on Nina and had had more time to learn all the names. "Who is Pthah-Se? Is she a goddess? I could have sworn I had all the goddesses memorized."

Anubis snorted a laugh, "I doubt it. I don't think even I have all the goddesses memorized. There are a ton. You probably know all the ones who aren't taking a century long nap, however. Pthah-Se is, was, a mortal. Second dynasty I want to say. She was the wife of some pharaoh, don't remember which but I'm pretty sure Ammut devoured him. She's done a lot of humanitarian work since dying, however. She likes to help people transition. She's a good person, but probably not worth your time."

Anubis never thought any of the requests made by mortals were worth Nina's time. (Though in this case she had to agree with him). "Well, tell Wadjet I would love the amulets and allow Sobek to pass into my dreams tonight. Politely tell Pthah-Se that I don't have time to handle her request but that I appreciate her reaching out. As for Qebui, Shu and Tefnut, well tell them that I'm staying out of their fight up until the moment it threatens the mortal world. They really don't want me involved, because if it reaches the point where I'm involved then it's reached the point where I'm going to be fighting against them."

Anubis rolled his eyes, but made the note. With a pop the paper disappeared, and he studied Nina. "You realize it's not smart to threaten gods. You know what, never mind. More importantly- do you realize you're supposed to be my servant and not the other way around?"

"Hey, you're the one who started putting wards up around me so that everyone wasn't hounding me with their problems. And I do appreciate it, really, but if you won't let everyone contact me directly you have to be the middleman." Plus Nina really enjoyed being able to pick and choose which gods and spirits she helped and which gods and spirits she ignored. She only had so much time and she preferred to help those that really needed it.

"You would have a lot more time in your day if you just accepted that being the Chosen One was a full time job and stopped pretending. It's not like you have a lack of funds; gods are quite generous when you help them out."

Nina really hated when Anubis read her mind, but she really, really hated when Anubis tried to convince her that she should have no life outside of being the Chosen One. She would go insane if she spent all day existing in the crazy world where gods, monsters, and spirits existed. Nina needed some semblance of sanity, and that was what school was. It wasn't about learning, it was about being normal for a few hours each day. Was that really too much to ask?

"Sorry," Anubis sighed. He reached out to grab Nina's hand, and waited for her to look up at him. "I'm sorry. I know why you go to school. I just think if you were more accepting of your destiny it would be easier for you. You have a purpose in life; you just need to fulfill it."

Nina had gotten completely derailed from her original reason for meeting with Anubis, but his talk of destiny and purpose reminded her. "I need you to do me a favor."

Anubis had told Nina many times to never ever ask any god, even him, to do a favor for her. In the end all gods expected that favor to be returned, and it was a dangerous thing to be the Chosen One in debt to a god. It was sound logic, and something Nina tried to keep in mind, so she understood why Anubis tensed at her words. Even he could tell that she meant business. "What's wrong?"

"Fabian goes to King's College. I saw him yesterday, but today I actually spoke to him. He's furious with me of course, I wouldn't expect anything else, but he spoke to me just long enough to tell me that Eddie was a mess. So I went to see Eddie… he is a mess, and it started when he lost the Osirian spirit… Did you know? When you told me all those years ago that the Osirian spirit died but that Eddie came back to life… did you know then what he'd become?"

Nina's voice quivered with anger. She was furious that Eddie had just been suffering and she hadn't known. Anubis had to have known! He had to have known and just never told her!

But Anubis seemed as shocked as she did, and he held her shoulders steady. "Nina, I never paid attention to Eddie when he was the Osirian, never mind since. You have always been my concern. I swear I didn't know. What's wrong with Eddie?"

"That purpose, that destiny you always say I'm hiding from? Well Eddie lost his, and it broke him. He's miserable and hopeless because he literally has no purpose in life now that he's not the Osirian. There has to be a way for him to get the Osirian spirit back! I need you to talk to Osiris for me, ask him, beg on my behalf if you have to. Just make him find a way to make Eddie the Osirian again. I'm worried that if he stays like this he'll kill himself. Please Anubis. It's my fault that Eddie was the Osirian instead of just some normal boy who could make his own destiny. Remind Osiris that he owes me a favor if you have to, just help Eddie."

Nina knew she seemed slightly insane, but Anubis's eyes held surprise more than anything. "Nina, the god of death owes you a favor and you want to cash it in on this?"

"If I was to use it to bring someone back to life I'd be sparing myself pain," Nina reminded him. Of course Anubis didn't really understand death. For Anubis people dying made it easier for him to see them, not harder, but he had to at least have a basic idea of how much it hurt mere mortals when someone died. "If I bring someone back to life I spare myself pain. If I make Osiris fix Eddie then I spare him pain. That is probably the easiest choice I'll ever have to make."


	6. Chapter 6

Thank you so much to everyone reading and reviewing. As a fandom we may be small, but we are mighty!

* * *

Chapter 6

Fabian did drop Professor Geffen's class, so he didn't see Nina the next morning. Eddie had shared their discussion with Fabian last night, and he had to admit he was curious. What kind of things had Nina been dealing with since leaving Anubis House? Had she truly thought her leaving protected them? And could she really do something to help Eddie?

Because Eddie clearly needed help. He kept telling Fabian that he'd only be there for a day more, but so far as Fabian knew Eddie hadn't even left the apartment since arriving. It wasn't that Fabian minded Eddie sleeping on his couch and eating his food, no Fabian probably preferred having Eddie where he could keep an eye on him, but it was just odd. How did Eddie think he was going to find a new apartment (or say, a job) when he hadn't even gone outside?

If Fabian was being honest with himself he suspected that Eddie didn't actually want to leave. Eddie felt like he should, he felt like he was overstaying his welcome, but he didn't want to go. Eddie was hurting, anyone could see it, and Fabian was there for him. Eddie had spent years hurting without someone there, but now Fabian was, why on Earth would he want to leave quickly?

And Fabian was glad that Eddie was around. Of course it had made things complicated last night when Eva showed up, and Eva was now pissed at Fabian, but Fabian liked having his old roommate back. As much as Fabian had grown since graduating he'd never left that time behind him. He tried to. He tried to forget what it was like to fear for your life, for your friends' lives, because some ancient ghost has cursed you. He tried to forget what it was like to have to stay up all night, hiding from both the good and bad guys, just to solve some stupid riddle. He tried to forget what it was like to have to choose between decoding hieroglyphics and doing Pre-Calculus homework. He tried to forget what it was like to have friends who were closer to family, people who would literally die for you, people who loved you unconditionally and wanted you to succeed, people he never wanted to lose, but had anyways. Fabian tried to forget what life in Anubis House had been, but he never had, and nothing he'd done since had compared to the brilliant feeling of being a part of Sibuna.

So Fabian had to admit that he liked having Eddie back, and Eddie clearly liked being back with Fabian. Neither of them ever moved on from what life had been like back then, and being together again, even if under such horrible circumstances, made everything a little bit easier.

So yeah, Fabian didn't really mind that Eva was mad at him. Actually he was more annoyed at her than at Eddie. If Eva couldn't understand that sometimes Fabian had to focus on people outside of her… well what did that say about Eva?

Fabian sighed to himself. It was as if just thinking about Eva made her appear, because there she was, walking towards him across the quad, a scowl dark on her face.

Eva and Fabian met during their sophomore year in an archaeological-forensics class. She was studying Criminal Justice- sharp as a wit, beautiful, and actually gave Fabian the time of day- they were dating within a week. Everyone thought they were perfect together, especially Fabian's other friends (the word seemed wrong now that he recalled what friend had meant at Anubis house). Fabian had told himself they were right, because he couldn't think of anything wrong with Eva. She was truly beautiful. Her dark hair curled in all the right places, her eyes were brown, but not dull, more like, like mud cake. She was in perfect shape, not too skinny, but active enough that all the fat on her was toned into shapely muscle. Her clothing style was impeccable, mature, fashionable, and probably modeled on Princess Kate. Fabian and she had been together for a year and a half, and everyone seemed to think it would be a lifetime. She was bold and opinionated, but it was okay because Fabian was better at following someone else's lead. She could be a bit snippy and pessimistic, but it was only because Fabian was ignorant of the world's flaws. When she was getting a bit too feisty Fabian's calm temper brought her back to reality. They complimented each other. They didn't have to be alike because opposites attract. They were in love.

Fabian wondered why he wished Eva would turn around and not come talk to him if they were so in love.

"Nice to finally see you alone," Eva told Fabian after pulling him in for a tight kiss. "I was beginning to think you'd forgotten about me."

It had been one day; if Fabian could forget her _that_ easily then there was a serious problem. "I've just been busy. Life's complicated."

"Not really," Eva told him faking a smile and shaking her head. She looked a bit like a disapproving mother, and it bugged Fabian. (Not that he ever would say so). "Like really Fabian, it's not normal for your drug addicted boarding school roommate to just show up out of the blue and make you forget the rest of your life."

Okay, Eva could criticize him all she wanted; she could not go after Eddie. "He's not an addict. He's hurting and I want to help him. The rest of life can wait."

"Well sometimes we don't want to wait just because you have a hero complex!" Eva was really angry, and it completely threw Fabian. She was annoyed with him like 80% of the time, but not normally this annoyed. "Like really Fabian, I'm hurt and you don't even seem to care. You barely know this guy anymore. I don't get why he's a priority."

"Because he's a human being and he's hurting!"

"I'm hurting! You're ignoring me!"

"It's been one day Eva!" Fabian was trying to keep his voice low and calm, but this was a new level of paranoia and it really wasn't a priority.

Except apparently it was for Eva. "And in that one day your old roommate and your old girlfriend show up and you don't even talk to me about it. Is this how we're going to be?"

Fabian's frustration flew out the (metaphorical) window. Suddenly he was just confused. "How did you even know about Nina?"

"Kurt saw you talking to her in the dining hall yesterday and did a reverse picture search. It's not important. What's important is that you lied to me!"

Fabian cupped his face in his hands and took a deep breath. He was not about to flip out on Eva, but a part of him wanted to. What the Hell was Kurt, Eva's ex, doing reverse picture searching any girl he saw Fabian talking to? "I didn't lie to you. I haven't even had a chance to tell you. Yeah, Nina is my old girlfriend, from four years ago, the one who ditched me without even a phone call. Yeah she's studying abroad here. Yeah I spoke to her, about Eddie, because they were really close before, and she might be the only one who can help him get back on his feet!" Eva went to interrupt him, but Fabian didn't let her. "No, I'm talking. Because even if I had been talking to her about something besides my possibly-suicidal best friend, I would be within my right to do so! You have sleepovers at Kurt's apartment; I'm allowed to be within spitting distance of Nina."

"I'm not saying you can't Fabs, I'm just saying you should have told me. Besides I thought you hated her."

Maybe Fabian did, maybe Fabian didn't. He didn't get a chance to think about it because he noticed Nina standing a little ways off, clearly looking to speak with him. "Eva, I can't deal with this right now. I don't care about Nina, but I do care about Eddie, and she can help him. I'll call you tonight, okay?"

Eva saw Nina too, and looked like a whirlwind of fury, "No way. You have been teasing me and stringing me along for a year! If Nina can help Eddie then make Eddie move in with her and let me be your roommate! You go over there and speak to her and we're over Fabian Rutter!"

In that moment Fabian could have been going over to talk to a pile of dung and he wouldn't have cared; he turned and walked straight towards Nina.


	7. Chapter 7

I've been asked a lot about when Patricia and the others will come in, so here is the answer- eventually. This story is not completely written. It's not even really plotted out. I have ideas and I'm letting them go where they want to. And where they want to go is a circle. This fic looks like it will probably be AT LEAST 50K, maybe more depending on where the plot bunnies and inspiration leads. Patricia comes in around the 25K mark, I know that, and everyone else will stagger in after that. I promise they will be there, but you have to give me time. When they wrote Nina out of season 3 they created a lot of problems that I now have to work around. Have patience, enjoy the ride, and mostly have fun!

Happy New Year! May 2017 be full of magic, love, and joy!

* * *

Chapter 7

Eddie's back hurt from sleeping on the couch, and the light from the windows made it impossible for him to sleep in past noon. Around one he finally decided he should get up, and accidentally caught a glance of himself in the mirror.

He'd avoided looking into mirrors for a while. Whenever he did Eddie barely even recognized himself. He looked like shit. The drugs, the booze, the things he used to dull the feeling of being lost- they were killing him and he knew it. The issue was he didn't care. He didn't really even have a reason to be alive beyond not wanting to be dead.

But looking into the mirror, seeing himself look like crap in Fabian's mirror, it stung more than Eddie thought possible. Suddenly he was decided. He could be dead inside, but he was going to at least appear like a functioning human being.

The heat of the shower worked out all the knots in Eddie's muscles, and the steam seemed to give his face some color. After using all of the building's hot water Eddie stepped from the shower and decided he could really use a good shave. He used Fabian's blade, smiling to himself as he thought about how many times he'd done the same thing back at school. Those happy times felt so long ago, but Eddie realized that it had only been a few years. The thought made him happier than he'd been in a long time. Those days of goodness and happiness weren't long gone, and they could come back. Nina had said she had a solution, and now that he was freshly showered and shaved Eddie believed her. He believed in her.

Who was he kidding? He'd always believed in her far more than he'd ever believed in himself. That was why it had hurt so much that she left.

And yet it didn't hurt so much anymore. Eddie could sort of see how she thought they'd be safer without her. She'd been wrong of course, but he'd have probably made the same choice in her place. Of course it hadn't been her choice to make, it should have been theirs, but he still got it. He was pissed at her, but maybe less-so. He'd probably all out forgive her if she could really get him his purpose back.

Though the real question was 'would anyone forgive Eddie even if he got his purpose back.'

Eddie wasn't an idiot, despite what many of his teachers believed. Obviously he wasn't as book smart as Nina or Fabian, but he was street smart. He knew things about people and life that many were still ignorant of at twenty-one. He also was smart enough to know that when you drop out of school, break up with the love of your life, and stop calling your parents back you tend to worry people. His father probably scanned every obituary under the sun trying to double check that he was still alive. Patricia just plain hated him for how they'd ended things. He'd hurt a lot of people, and they weren't going to forgive him just because he'd gone a little crazy. He didn't deserve for them to forgive him.

And yet he pulled out his phone and hovered his finger over Patricia's name. Most likely she'd answer if he called; people don't often change their phone number. She'd answer, and she'd yell at him, and she'd hate him, and he'd deserve it. He'd deserve it and he wanted it. She'd probably moved on, he hoped she'd moved on, but he still wanted to hear her voice. Even if she was yelling at him just hearing her voice would make it all worth it.

He might have actually dialed the number too, but the apartment door opened and Nina and Fabian walked in. There was a tense distance between them that actually amused Eddie. They were both still 100% hung up on the other, and they were both really bad at denying it. If Eddie was a betting man (which he actually was) he'd bet that they were back together, or at least kissing in a fit of passion, within the month.

"Nina has news," Fabian tersely explained, as if he needed a good excuse for why he'd invited Nina back to his apartment. "I'll cook us some lunch… Do you want something Nina?"

Eddie noticed her little smile despite the fact that it was hidden from Fabian. "No thank you, I already ate. Actually that's why I have news. There is a way to get your Osirian spirit back. It's said that the Ram of Mendes is the Ba, or soul, of Osiris, but that's apparently not the best translation. The Ram of Mendes is really the soul of the Osirian. Whenever the Chosen One dies both spirits are reincarnated, but if the Osirian dies first, which apparently happens a lot, then the spirit resides within the Ram of Mendes. So to get the spirit back all you have to do is find the Ram of Mendes and touch it. It will recognize you as a host for the Osirian, and it will recognize the Chosen One spirit in me, so the spirit should just go right back into you no problem."

Somehow Eddie knew that there was no such thing as 'no problem' when it came to situations like this. "That's great, but what's the catch."

Eddie knew he was right and that there was a catch because Nina cringed a little bit. "Well the Ram of Mendes is a thing, but it's also a god, Banebdjedet. And well… well Banebdjedet was sort of the basis for the devil tarot card. But I've been assured that that is really just misinformation because Banebdjedet is a fertility god and the Christians were a bit bothered by the fact that there was some… questionable sexual practices done by some worshipers. He's most likely very chill. So we just need to find him, ask him where the Ram is and have you touch it. Piece of cake."

Yeah, Eddie somehow doubted it. Still Nina did sound confident, very confident, so perhaps this was normal for her. "Okay so how do we find, whatever his name is?"

"Banebdjedet?" Eddie nodded; how Nina could remember the name eluded him. "Well, um, that might be a bit difficult because, well the gods are immortal you see, but they do still draw power from belief. So when there aren't many who still remember their name they tend to fade. Banebdjedet isn't exactly Ra or Anubis- so he's probably faded. But most likely there is someone who still is devoted to him, especially because he is considered a satanic god. People are weird like that. So all we need to do is find whoever still remembers him and then I can use their belief to draw him back from the place in the Du'at where he's faded to. That's one of the many powers I've discovered comes with being the Chosen One."

Eddie decided in that very moment that he and Nina really needed to talk before he got his powers back. She was throwing out words he'd never heard of, like Du'at, and obviously had a better idea of her powers than Eddie ever had of his. If he was going to get his abilities back he'd like to know what those abilities actually were.

But for the moment he just needed to focus on getting his abilities back. As much as talking to Nina and Fabian and remembering the old days helped, there was still an aching hole in Eddie's chest. The talk of having a purpose was nice, but he still didn't. "So how do we find who worships him?"

"Research," Nina answered with a shrug. Eddie couldn't help but be surprised. She seemed like she had everything under control, but really this wasn't much different from the old days- none of them had a clue what was going on. "I can ask around, but most likely we'll find the answer in a book or on the internet."

Fabian had been silently making sandwiches in the kitchen, but he finally spoke up, even looking at Nina, when he re-entered to hand Eddie some lunch. "I'll help with research, for Eddie's sake only, but you have to answer me this one question Nina- who are you going to ask? You said before that you'd been assured that Banebdjedet wasn't actually evil, by whom? Where are you getting this information from? Because it's not all Google, that's obvious. If we're trusting you on this I'd like to know who you're trusting."

Eddie knew from the way Nina bit her lip that neither of them would like the answer, but she did answer. She didn't look them in the eye when she answered, but she did. "Well it's kind of a long story, but, well, Anubis technically. I mean he got the info from Osiris because Osiris owes me a favor, but Anubis is the one who told me."

Eddie felt practically ready to pass out. Yeah, things had certainly changed for Nina since leaving Anubis House. She had somehow gone from almost being possessed to talking to the literal death god like it was a normal thing. It was not. Eddie was 100% sure that talking to a death god was not a normal thing, and he didn't like it. He was surprised by how much he didn't like it. Perhaps he no longer had to protect Nina, but damn it he did, and he did not like the idea of her being buddy-buddy with a death god. "Okay, I don't care about getting the Osirian spirit back anymore. All I care about is this- what the Hell have you done?"


	8. Chapter 8

Super long chapter to start off the New Year. Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 8

Nina wasn't surprised that Eddie wanted answers, but she wasn't entirely sure she could give them. Maybe to Eddie. Eddie knew what it felt like to have another spirit within you. Eddie would understand why she had to do the things she did, and he wouldn't judge her for all the places she'd gone wrong. Eddie knew how easily it was to lose everything.

But to him? To Fabian? He already clearly hated her, but he'd probably despise her if he knew everything. He'd probably be horrified of some of the things she'd done, some of the things she'd had to do. Nina was terrified of the things he'd say to her if he was faced with the whole truth.

But they didn't need to know everything. They weren't looking for the story of every little god or spirit she'd helped (or fought) over the last four years. They would never even imagine she was capable of having done so much. All they wanted was a broad overview. Nina could give them that, couldn't she? She could word it so Fabian didn't know just what a horrible person she was. Besides Eddie deserved to know what he was getting back into, and if she pretended she was still sixteen and Fabian didn't hate her… well then it got easier.

"After everything happened with Senkarah and I went home I decided it might be a good idea for me to learn a bit more about everything Egyptian. I arranged to do a summer internship at the Cleveland Museum of Art in the Ancient Egypt section. I was going to learn how to handle artifacts as well as use them to do more research.

"Or that was the plan. But it got thrown out of the window the very first day. I was supposed to be working with an archaeologist named Kevin Clarke. He was a semi-noteworthy archaeologist and Egyptologist in his youth, but he's now in his late sixties and working as a curator. I came in first day to meet him, and when I introduced myself he asked me immediately to see my necklace. I was shocked, and slightly terrified, but he was very kind about it."

Eddie stood up and began pacing, and Nina wondered just how much of the over-protective nature of the Osirian remained even now. "So he knew what you were?" Eddie seemed horrified by the idea, but Nina just shrugged. She was used to it by now.

"Professor Geffen knows," Fabian interrupted. He was sitting on the other side of the room picking at his lunch, but Nina noticed he was listening far more than he was eating. "Professor Geffen asked me yesterday if I was the former-Osirian. He knew all about you."

Nina nodded, "Yeah, apparently a lot of people do. I guess it makes sense, people study Egypt and eventually realize that it isn't all fake, but it can be kind of creepy. It's not usually bad though. Like Professor Geffen pulled me aside today to tell me he knew, but I just laughed and asked if that meant I wasn't allowed to do my term paper on the Chosen One and the Osirian. I used to get freaked out when people knew, but I'm just so used to it now I guess. I'm at the point where I assume that anyone who studies Egyptology knows the Chosen One exists, even if they're not 100% sure it's me."

Nina could tell that the boys seemed bothered by the idea, and she got it. In the beginning it had bothered her too, but eventually she'd gotten used to it. They would too. Or Eddie would. Fabian had said he was only sticking around until Eddie got his Osirian nature back, so Fabian wouldn't have time to get used to it. Eddie would though, and then someday he'd understand why Nina didn't think it was a big deal.

"Anyways, I was freaked out that first time with Dr. Clarke, but I eventually got used to the idea of him knowing. And he was actually really, really helpful about it. He knew more about the Chosen One than I did, and he was fluent in Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. He spent the summer teaching me and something within me made it easy for me to pick up. By August I could read all the tablets and scrolls we had. I learned so much, and I couldn't wait to get back to school to share it with Sibuna.

"But then I read something I shouldn't have, and I experimented with this magic vile the museum had on display. It was a disaster; we're lucky I didn't wipe Cleveland off the map! And I realized then just how dangerous I could be. And it only got worse. As I grew in knowledge I grew more useful to every god and spirit. The artifacts I'd come to love were suddenly turning against me. Statues of gods began to speak, asking for favors. The mummies we had on display were angry about being stared at all day. The mistress of some pharaoh almost killed me over a pair of earrings!

"I knew it was too much. I knew I'd passed a point of no return, and then Gran got sick again. I didn't know if it was because of something I'd done or if it was just perfectly normal, but she was really sick. I couldn't just leave her to go back to school. But it was more than that. I didn't want to go back to school. I stopped working at the museum and it got better, but anytime I was anywhere near something Egyptian some god or spirit found its way into my life. The Frobishers stole so many things, and most of them are still on the school grounds. I didn't want to go back and have those spirits haunting me. I didn't want those spirits hurting the rest of you to get to me.

"So I didn't come back. I sent my locket to Eddie. I guess some part of me knew you'd have to deal with something or I wouldn't have thought he'd need the locket, but I guess I knew it couldn't be worse than what I'd have to fight."

Fabian still hadn't taken a bite out of his sandwich, and he scowled at Nina's words. "I guess you were wrong considering half of Sibuna lost our souls."

"No Fabian, I was right. Maybe you lost your souls but you all survived. Gran died, and it wasn't because of her age, it was because I decided to take a stand against Set, the god of chaos. I don't regret not returning to Anubis House. I wish I could have, but I really couldn't. I don't regret the fact that you're all alive, even if you all hate me."

And Nina meant it. As much as she wished she'd gone back to school for that final year, as much as she might have been able to help them against Ammut or Ra, she didn't regret the fact that they were alive.

Eddie had been fairly still, though he at least had taken a few bites of his sandwich. Nina noticed, however, that he didn't appear to have chewed those bites. His jaw was tense and locked, and his posture was stiff as a board. Something was bothering him, and it wasn't hard for Nina to guess what- Eddie had still been her Osirian when all this happened. He probably felt her fear, felt like he needed to protect her, but since she'd run away he hadn't been able to. Yet, despite the pain this clearly caused him, Nina didn't really regret it. She didn't like the idea of having an Osirian. She didn't like the idea of someone devoted to protecting her above all else. She'd said before that the Osirian often died before the Chosen One; there was a reason for that. Osirians often died first because they sacrificed themselves to save their Chosen One. Nina didn't want Eddie to do that. She didn't mind protection, but she did mind someone being forced to put her life ahead of theirs. Nina didn't want there to be an Osirian.

But apparently Eddie either had to suffer as the Osirian or suffer because he wasn't the Osirian, and so that made it Eddie's choice, but Nina still didn't like it.

"You still haven't explained how you ended up talking to the god of Death," Fabian pointed out.

Right. Nina had almost forgotten Eddie's original reason for asking. "Ah, well it's sort of hard to explain. Anubis is my patron. All the powers I have I get from him. The title Chosen One is ridiculous, but I am technically the chosen one of Anubis. Anubis chose me, or well technically he chose my whole bloodline, to reassemble his Cup of Ankh. But in doing so he gave a whole line of women abilities that no other mortal had. In doing so he basically made it so that we were the only ones gods and spirits could go to when they needed something. It was an unintended problem, but Anubis always just let it be. He was mad you see. He was furious with the whole line. Over thirty-three hundred years passed between when Amneris broke the Cup of Ankh and when I reassembled it. If we consider the average marrying age over that time was maybe twenty tops, that's over a hundred and fifty Chosen Ones who never succeeded in finding the pieces and reassembling the cup. Even with the patience of a god that's a long time, and he was furious at the whole line. He wanted it to be a curse, for it to be a punishment, so he let them deal with all the gods and spirits on their own.

"But I succeeded where everyone else failed. I actually assembled the Cup. I ended Anubis's long wait, and he was grateful. When he saw me getting overwhelmed by every god and spirit whose sculpture I passed, he stepped in. He laid down the rules so to speak. Now if someone wants my help they have to ask him, and then he asks me. Of course the ones who are hoping that I won't notice what they're up to are careful to avoid Anubis, but he usually figures it out and tells me anyways. So yeah, Anubis has been visiting me for years. He's a good friend. I know that seems odd, to be friends with a death god, but Anubis has never been anything but a friend. And since he's immortal I don't have to worry about getting him killed."

"You're in love with him."

Fabian's words shocked Nina. How could he even suggest such a thing? Anubis was a god! Even if they were friends Anubis was still a god. Nina had never even considered the possibility of loving Anubis. You didn't fall for a god. "No! It's nothing like that. He's my patron. He's responsible for me, and I remind him of it by making him help me. But it's nothing like _that._ "

Fabian didn't seem to believe her, however. He was sitting hunched over in his chair and refused to look at Nina. She didn't even get why. Even if she was in love with Anubis what would it matter to Fabian? Fabian had made it very clear that as soon as Eddie was better he was gone. Plus he had a girlfriend, didn't he?

"Sorry," Eddie sighed with a shrug. "But I just think it's weird. Even if you are his favorite, even if you did break the curse, why would he, a god, feel like he owes you anything? I mean what does he get out of it?"

Nina didn't know. Nina had never really thought about it. "What does anyone get out of helping their friends? I mean I guess you could argue that me helping you is selfish because I just want someone who would jump in front of a bullet for me. But what about Fabian? What does he get out of helping us? Friends help friends because they lo… care about each other."

Eddie caught Nina's slip, and gave her a very pointed look. "Exactly. Friends help friends because they love each other. I don't know Anubis, but I have to ask myself what kind of love it is that he feels for you to be willing to anger all the other gods on your behalf."

"Anubis is not in love with me any more than I'm in love with him!" Nina actually laughed at the insane suggestion. As if a god was going to love her. She couldn't even get Fabian to love her. She wasn't about to get a god to love her. "He's helpful, let's not look a gift horse in the mouth. He's already looking into where Banebdjedet's followers might be located. If you two can look around as well I'd appreciate it."

"I'm not doing it for you," Fabian reminded before turning back to his sandwich and away from Nina. His tense words sent a stab of pain through Nina, but she nodded sadly. Yes apparently that was the case.


	9. Chapter 9

Huge thank you to everyone still reading. I do hope you continue to enjoy. If you have any theories you're welcome to share them with me. You'd be surprised the kind of things people have guessed right. Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 9

Nina wondered sometimes why she forced herself to balance schoolwork with Chosen One work. Of course she knew why- she needed the semblance of normality- but it was still difficult. She had a paper due for her hieroglyphic class, one that she obviously had to write in hieroglyphics for full credit, but it was hard to focus on writing a memoir in Ancient Egyptian when she needed to track down an Ancient Egyptian god.

She finished it around two AM, but instead of just heading into bed she started looking up images of texts about Banebdjedet. She knew from experience that any really important details she'd find carved in some tomb and not on Wikipedia, but that didn't make it any less frustrating.

Especially when she came across a text she could not read for the life of her. She could make out the symbols and what the word was no problem, but she didn't know the definitions. It was like a completely different language written out in hieroglyphics. _I wonder if my hieroglyphic professor knows… or I could ask Professor Geffen. He'd probably know._

Nina hadn't been surprised when Professor Geffen said he knew she was the Chosen One, but she had been surprised by how kind he was about it. He hadn't been looking for any secrets of the gods or hidden knowledge; he had actually offered to help her if she ever needed anything. (And he'd seemed sincere which, in Nina's line of work, was a rare find).

Yes, he'd be a good person to ask about it.

Decided Nina went to sleep. She did have an 8 AM class after all.

* * *

It took until Fabian lay down to go to sleep for the day's events to really come back to him. He'd broken up with Eva. Nina had admitted to being friends with freaking Anubis. They had to track down some satanic worshipers to help Eddie.

He'd broken up with Eva.

He knew that, technically, she'd broken up with him. She provided the ultimatum. She freaked out and stalked Nina. She lost it.

But he was the one to walk away.

The worst bit was it didn't hurt. He remembered how he'd felt after Nina had left; it had been like the world ended. He'd been miserable for weeks and there was a tangible ache in his chest whenever he thought of her. (And he always thought of her.) When Nina left Fabian had been heartbroken.

He never loved Mara the way he'd loved Nina, but at least he felt sad then. Fabian had known that it probably wouldn't work out between them, not with them going to different schools, but he'd still been sad when it was over. He still had regrets.

Now he felt light, lighter than he had in years. It was like a 120 pound weight had been lifted off his chest. Fabian no longer had to worry about everything he said. He no longer had to worry about coming across as too geeky. He didn't have to worry about his body betraying what his mind really did not want. She'd been trying to get him to sleep with her for months, and Fabian wondered if she'd only stayed so long because he was hard to get. Had it been a challenge for her? Had she only been obsessed with what she couldn't have?

Because their relationship had always been about her. Fabian had clearly seen that even before her freak out earlier in the day. He didn't really have any friends of his own; they hung out with her friends. He never picked where they went on dates; he always paid for the dates. He always had to find the right present for her because it wasn't the thought that counted. All that mattered to Eva was Eva.

And it had been easy for Fabian to tell himself that he didn't mind that because he loved Eva and so of course he wanted everything to be about Eva. It had been a lie though. No one is truly selfless enough to belong in a relationship entirely about one of them. It's impossible to love selflessly when the other gives nothing at all. Sometimes Fabian wanted his thoughts, his feelings, to matter as well. They never had, and that wasn't love. He might have thought he was being selfless and loving, but he was being used.

And he'd known it, and now it was over, and Fabian didn't even care. Perhaps he was slightly disturbed by how little he cared about their breakup, but he really truly did not even care.

No he was far more concerned by Nina and Anubis. Something about that just seemed… off. Nina seemed perfectly comfortable with it, but Fabian wasn't. You should not just be comfortable with talking to the god of the Afterlife! That was not a normal way to feel! Anubis was creepy. He had the head of a dog and the body of a man! It was unnatural. He was the kind of thing they'd hid from, the kind of thing they'd fought, back at Anubis House. Nina should not be BFFS with him!

And Fabian didn't even believe they were just BFFS. He'd seen the blush in Nina's cheeks when they had asked her about it. He didn't believe her one bit. She and Anubis were a thing, and Fabian didn't like it. It wasn't that he was jealous. (Why would be possibly be jealous?) Fabian just didn't like the risk. They were betting Eddie's sanity on the word of Nina's godly boyfriend; Fabian didn't like that.

But what other choice did they have? Fabian sure as Hell didn't know how to help Eddie. If there was even a sliver of truth in Anubis's words then they had to do something. Eddie clearly needed to be the Osirian again and they didn't have any better leads.

But Fabian wasn't about to trust Anubis. He was going to do his own research and come to his own conclusions. Maybe he'd even prove to Nina that Anubis was not to be trusted and when they went their separate ways she'd be a little bit safer.

Because it wasn't like Fabian worried about her anymore, but he wasn't callous enough to want her dead. He wasn't callous enough to want anyone dead.

Fabian swung his legs out of bed and moved across the room to grab his laptop. He peered out the door a little to see Eddie sleeping on the couch. He was thrashing about some, clearly unable to get comfortable, or perhaps bothered by some dream. Fabian smiled to himself; Eddie had always slept like that. It had been years since they were roommates, and yet Fabian remembered that vividly.

Watching for more than a moment would be really creepy, so Fabian grabbed his laptop and started searching. Perhaps he'd find something about this Banebdjedet to either discredit Anubis or locate his worshipers. One way or another it would be over soon.

And then Fabian could go back to pretending like none of it ever happened at all.


	10. Chapter 10

Anyone watching Beyond? It stars Burkley Duffield (Eddie) and is supposedly quite good. I didn't get to watch the premiere yesterday but I have it recorded and look forward to watching it tonight. If you've seen it tell me your thoughts. Anyways, enjoy! This chapter took me forever because HOA season 3 created a number of plot holes for me to fight with.

* * *

Chapter 10

Eddie Miller was thrashing about in his sleep just as he had when living at Anubis House. The one small fact that Fabian had forgotten was why Eddie had thrashed about in his sleep at Anubis House. It had never had anything to do with Eddie being restless; it had to do with Eddie being a lighthouse to Egyptian nonsense.

A few spirits had found their way to Eddie since he'd lost his Osirian nature, but they'd all quickly left. Eddie didn't really understand how the whole Osirian thing worked, but it seemed that everyone else could see his Osirian nature, or lack thereof. Apparently word had even got around that he was now useless, because Eddie hadn't had any visitors in a long time.

Up until that night.

Eddie stood on the bank of the Nile River, though he wasn't quite sure how he knew it was the Nile. He'd never been there, and he'd never really seen pictures of it. Perhaps it was just the fact that in the distance Eddie noticed some very Egyptian looking temples, or perhaps it was the rolling hills of sand right beyond the immediate green shores.

But there was one problem with what Eddie saw; it made no sense. He knew Cairo was a modern Arabic city. There should have been cars, freighters, hotels, but there was nothing. The only ships in the river were made of wood, or perhaps reeds of some sort, and pointed a bit like an elf shoe. Rowers wore nothing but white skirts, no turbans or modern clothes.

This was the Nile River as the Ancient Egyptians would have seen it, and Eddie, who'd never actually cared much about history, found it beautiful.

Eddie was so caught up in the beauty that it took him a good minute to realize that, while everyone else just moved around him as if he wasn't there, one man was staring right at him. He looked just like a normal guy, or well as normal as anyone looked. He had a long beard coming down from his chin, and a hat that reminded Eddie a bit of a traffic cone. But it was the green skin which tipped Eddie off to the fact that, perhaps, his visitor was neither normal nor a guy.

"It's beautiful, isn't it," the man asked, but he didn't look at Eddie. Instead he looked out over the Nile in a way that Eddie didn't quite understand. His visitor had a look similar to a father looking at his son, an odd look to give a river.

"Ah, yeah," Eddie replied scratching his neck. For some reason the man felt really familiar, but he couldn't remember why. "Do I know you?"

The man finally turned to Eddie, and smiled ever-so-slightly. "You did once, not that you knew it. I however have known you your whole life, Edison Sweet."

Eddie couldn't help himself; he cracked his knuckles at the sound of his full name. He might no longer hate his father, but he'd never considered himself a Sweet. And the name Edison… well he wasn't exactly the scientific or geeky type his father had hoped he'd be.

"I see you continue to deny your family history, but it is the truth. You are a Sweet, a family that has moved all over the world chasing after and dying for Chosen Ones throughout the ages. Your father knew his family's history, and yet he never got a chance to pass it on to you, not even when he discovered that you were the latest Sweet to fall under the Curse of the Osirian. And it is a curse. Amneris broke the Cup of Ankh, cursing her decedents to have a power that made them mere tools of the gods. To have a destiny chosen for you is to be cursed, but there was one man who was selfish enough to wish for a curse upon his line. His name was Asim, and he was a High Priest of Osiris who found himself in love with the consort of Tutankhamen, Amneris. He made a deal with Osiris and the price was his family. His decedents would be bound to protect the Chosen One, to die for the Chosen One, and in return they would be granted the abilities they would need to do so.

"But there was one stipulation- the Chosen One nor the Osirian was to ever try and be a god. They were to live and die mortal deaths and pass over into the Afterlife with light hearts. If they did not then their line would receive a new curse, one far darker than the original. When Rufus Zeno attempted to achieve godhood through the Mask of Anubis he brought this curse down upon the line of the Osirian. The Osirian would no longer be able to be near the Chosen One, a curse which basically guaranteed the Osirian would be unable to protect the Chosen One and would be forced to live after losing their Chosen One. It would be a fate worse than death for the Osirian to live knowing they had failed in their destiny. A pain worse than any torture."

Eddie had completely forgotten about Nina's last words to him. He'd completely forgotten that she'd said they couldn't be together. At the time it had made absolutely no sense to Eddie. What was the point of having a destined protector for the Chosen One if that destined protector couldn't be near enough to protect? Now it made sense to Eddie. That hadn't been the original idea. Rufus just continued to ruin things even after his destruction.

"What would happen if the Chosen One and the Osirian were together?"

The man (who Eddie was pretty sure was secretly Osiris) gave Eddie a very pointed look. _Do you really want to know?_ it seemed to ask. "Imagine the pain of being devoured by Ammut and multiply it sevenfold. It did not happen during the short period you were with Nina after Rufus Zeno's betrayal because you were still not fully in touch with the Osirian spirit. It would happen should you get the Osirian spirit back, however. The choice is yours Edison Sweet: you can either live without a purpose or know the pain of failing at your purpose. Or course you might just die while attempting to regain the Osirian spirit which would, undoubtedly, be the most merciful option."

"But there has to be some other way. You're the one who created the Osirian spirit! You're Osiris, I know it!" The man's small smile was proof enough that Eddie was correct. "If you cursed the spirit why can't you just remove the curse?"

Osiris looked upon Eddie as if he was some sort of stupid child taking a temper tantrum over what flavor ice cream he had. "Perhaps I don't want to. Or perhaps I can't."

"Look, Osiris, you're not a bad guy. Surely you can see how it's a little unfair for me to be punished because Rufus was insane. I don't want to be a god. I stopped Rufus from becoming a god for Christ's sake… Ah, sorry, poor choice of words."

Osiris didn't seem offended however. No he actually seemed quite amused by Eddie's stammering. "Yes, you are certainly very different from Rufus Zeno, but the curse has been laid. Ma'at, order, balance, is necessary. Such power could not be given without safeguards, and those safeguards are no longer in my power to remove. If they were I would. I do like you Edison Sweet, and I owe a great debt to Nina Martin even if it may well be repayed. There is nothing **_I_** can do."

Eddie was about to continue his rampage, but something about Osiris's raised brows caused Eddie to stop. "Nothing _you_ can do?" Osiris nodded. "But there is a solution. Something _someone_ can do?"

"I am not like Anubis. I do not think it is wise to try and guide the path of humanity through the line I have cursed." Osiris was avoiding the question, and that was answer enough for Eddie. "This will most likely be the only time you and I ever speak, so I wish you well. Remember that you do have a choice. Not being able to feel anything at all may well be better than feeling that deepest sort of pain… Oh and Eddie, your father promised you years ago that he would explain how he knew the word Osirian. Perhaps it's time for you to finally get the full explanation?"

"Wait!" Eddie called, but Osiris was fading. "What does that mean? You have to explain!"

All Eddie heard in response was the crashing of the river on its banks


	11. Chapter 11

In this chapter- Hope makes fun of herself at age 12 and unpacks the entire plot of this story, and I can guarantee none of you will figure out quite how. (JK, you can. I've had so many people be scary right with theories based on clues that I thought were well hidden. So if you have an idea drop a review.

* * *

Chapter 11

Perhaps human beings needed six to eight hours of sleep a night, but college students did not. Nina woke up almost four hours after she'd gone to sleep, got dressed, grabbed her backpack, and made it to Professor Geffen's seminar with time to spare.

Somehow Nina knew the discussion topic for the day was going to be interesting for her from the moment she walked in the door. Perhaps it was the little grin Professor Geffen gave her, or perhaps it was just her Chosen One instincts. From the moment Nina walked into class she knew that the topic of conversation would be surprisingly relevant for her.

Still she took her seat at the table they were using on discussion days. If Nina wanted to avoid discussing her other life she wouldn't be an archeology major with a concentration in Egyptology. Nina didn't mind discussing her secret life like it was just a theoretical myth. It was actually quite amusing for her to talk about Anubis as if he was fake. (And he somehow always found out and was annoyed which just amused Nina further).

"So we're going to continue our discussion on why the Egyptians believed what they believed, and I want to begin doing so by talking about the concept of curses." Ah. Nina had clearly been right about the relevancy of the conversation. "Out of curiosity how many of you believe curses exist?" Of the nine students in the class five raised their hands, and Nina was obviously one of them. "Good good. Now I want you all to take a minute or so to write down what you think it means to be cursed."

Nina didn't even have to think about it. She just wrote and wrote and wrote. When Professor Geffen told them to stop she knew very well that hers was the longest. But that was okay. Nina knew about curses.

"Diego, why don't you start us and then we can just go anticlockwise." Nina gave Professor Geffen a look; he had 100% decided to do it that way so Nina would be last.

"To be cursed is to be bitten by a mosquito and then die. To be shot by your wife or poisoned with arsenic. To be cursed is to suffer a terrible fate because you angered a god."

Professor Geffen nodded, "You would, of course, be referring to the supposed Pharaoh's Curse on Tutankhamen's tomb. Felicity, your turn."

"To be cursed is to have every ball you throw bounce back in your face. It's when every action you attempt is foiled by some greater power."

Professor Geffen went around and the rest of the answers were very similar. Everyone seemed to think it was a simple concept- you do something wrong to a powerful figure and end up with everything in your life going wrong. And then Professor Geffen got to Nina.

"When you're cursed you don't even realize it. You don't think about why your parents are dead, you just know they are. When things go wrong you don't even think of it as a curse. You are cursed. It's a part of who you are. When the good things in your life happen it's not despite the curse, it's just a part of it. Every breath, every action, every thought is cursed, you are cursed, but you don't know it. Not most of the time at least. Sometimes something happens. Sometimes you're staring a monster in the face and you remember that you're cursed. You remember that somewhere along the line your ancestor did something horrible and now you have to pay for it. But then the danger passes. You survive, maybe someone else dies, but you live on. Are you then really cursed? If your parents die at thirty and you live to be ninety and die peacefully in your sleep were you cursed? Or are you perhaps the curse? To be cursed is to not know anything different. It's to not know where the curse ends and you begin because, in the end, you're one and the same."

Everyone was silent for a moment, but finally Professor Geffen nodded. (He didn't regain his normal energy however.) "Interesting interpretation. But what none of you seemed to consider is the definition of a curse. Does it have to be bad? In our minds the word curse implies only negative things, but to the Ancient Egyptians that wasn't necessarily true. Curse to them was any sort of magical presence that stayed with you. Someone could, in a sense, be cursed with prosperity. Nina partially touched on how a curse could bring good in someone's life. A curse isn't always bad. Perhaps it often is, but what about when it isn't? Why were there even curses? What was the point?"

"Well it's about balance isn't it?" Nina felt a little odd raising her hand, and the words just sort of slipped out. Professor Geffen however seemed intrigued to hear what she had to say. "Someone upsets the Ma'at either by doing something or by having something happen to them. You steal something from Tutankhamen's tomb and you're cursed not to pass over to the Afterlife until that which was stolen is put back together. You're given magical abilities but you're harassed by gods and spirits wanting you to use those abilities. I guess it could be positive too… Say you help Osiris get his coffin back and then he gives you information about how to help a friend. Whenever someone does something bad they have something bad done to them. I guess it's like Karma."

Professor Geffen studied Nina, clearly wondering if all of her examples were true. Quickly enough he remembered his other eight (ignorant) students and nodded. "Miss Martin is of course correct. It's about balance which is more or less what Ma'at means. But then the question is-how do you avoid curses, or the bad ones at least?"

"Well you don't desecrate graves, particularly of pharaohs for one," one of the students, Ben, pointed out. "And you certainly don't steal from them."

Another of the girls in the class, Genevieve, nodded. "I mean if curses were real you'd get them from gods or something and since the pharaohs were like gods it wouldn't be smart to bother them."

"But what about when you don't really do something specific? What if your ancestor did something and now you're cursed?" Professor Geffen was 110% looking at Nina, and even some of their classmates seemed to notice. "What can you do then to stop the curse?"

Nina thought of Eddie, of Sarah, of herself and wanted to whisper 'nothing', but she kept her mouth shut. She wasn't supposed to be getting upset about a stupid class discussion. She was supposed to act like this was all theoretical.

"Well protection amulets for one," Professor Geffen started listing once it became clear that no one had an answer. "You could also see if there was a way to reverse the curse- put the object back, reassemble the cup, do a favor for whoever cursed you. Or the curse could be transferred to another, like a relative or even an enemy. So what do curses reflect about the society at large?"

The conversation got a little less personal for Nina, and she was able to relax a bit. By the end of class Nina had all but forgotten about her awkwardness. Professor Geffen hadn't however. Once everyone else shuffled out of the classroom and he noticed Nina stay behind he said, "I hope our topic of conversation didn't bother you."

"Oh? Curses? No I'm used to it. As I said I am cursed but I don't think about it much. A lot of my happy moments in life wouldn't have happened if not for the curse. It's not all bad. That's actually not what I wanted to ask you about. I was trying to translate a picture I found on Google last night but the words just didn't seem to make sense. I was hoping you could take a look for me, see if it's a dialect you're familiar with."

Professor Geffen smiled wide, "Of course. Bring it up for me." Nina did and he looked over it for a second. "For when the ram god wakes he shalt know thine devotion and reward thee."

"Where is the dialect from?"

"Probably here in London," Professor Geffen answered with a laugh. "Maybe as far as Liverpool. Nina, it's not a dialect of Ancient Egyptian. It's someone who thought writing English words in the Egyptian alphabet counted as writing in Ancient Egyptian. You can't read it because you're thinking too hard. Or maybe it's because you didn't really have to learn the language, it was a part of you. One way or another that's really English. Don't imagine it's too helpful to you though, probably not a credible source. What are you looking into?"

Nina felt very stupid as she looked back at the pictures; Professor Geffen was right. This wasn't some mysterious source that could give her answers, it was Elizabethan English, perhaps written even later. For all she knew it was carved into some stone wall only a few years ago by someone trying to be old fashioned trying to be Egyptian. Whatever answers were out there, Nina wasn't about to find them there. "Oh, nothing important. Thank you though I can't believe I missed that."

"Any time," Professor Geffen promised with a smile. "Though I would appreciate you not lying to me. I don't need to know what you're working on, it isn't my place or my curse, but I don't believe it's nothing. Rest assured I will not ask again, but if you ever need help let me know. I am quite knowledgeable."

Nina was sure, but she also didn't like the idea of getting people involved in her little quests. It seemed that everyone who got involved in her quests got hurt. Then again, as she'd said before, it seemed like she was more of a curse than she was cursed.


	12. Chapter 12

You know if you're ever really bored you could do your own research and probably figure out everything the same time they do. I literally get most of my plots by just following redirect links on Wikipedia and looking for something that seems relevant.

* * *

Chapter 12

Somehow Fabian's apartment had become the new Sibuna meeting place (not that it was really Sibuna with just the three of them). Still Nina showed up at lunchtime as if everything was perfectly normal, and Fabian was too busy talking to remember that he was supposed to not like having her in his apartment.

"So I was doing some reading last night about Banebdjedet, but I haven't come across any solid connections to his worshipers. That is unless I believe that the Freemasons of Liverpool are secretly Satanic."Eddie snorted a laugh at Fabian's joke, but Nina had a look which puzzled him. "Nina, what are you thinking?"

Fabian watched as Nina pulled herself back to reality and forced look of calm. "Oh, it's probably nothing. I was reading some carvings yesterday and found one that was odd. It was written in English but with the hieroglyphic alphabet. Once I translated it I discovered that the text was carved into a church basement in Liverpool."

By the gods, Nina was brilliant! Fabian couldn't believe how stupid he'd been to just brush off the Freemason theory. Had he really been out of the game for so long that he'd forgotten that the answers were always found in the most ridiculous place. "What kind of men are Freemasons? Powerful, a little stuffy, a lot obsessed with the past. That's the same kind of people who were in Victor's secret society. Robert Frobisher-Smythe was probably a Freemason as well. The whole club might know something!"

"Well I could have told you that," Eddie spoke up, the small grin on his face giving Fabian lots of hope for his recovery. "Everyone knows the Freemasons are just one giant conspiracy. Even I've seen the Di Vinci Code."

Fabian was too glad that Eddie felt up to making jokes to care that the joke was technically made at his expense. "So we just need to go to Liverpool then. But there are probably dozens of chapters in Liverpool. How do we know which one?"

Eddie's face suddenly lost all the amusement it had previously held. His eyes turned dark and depressed, and to Fabian he looked more lost than ever. "My father is a freemason. I can guarantee if any order has secretly turned away from Christianity and to Egypt it's his."

"Well that's good, isn't it?" Fabian didn't get why Eddie looked so horribly depressed. If they had a contact then all they had to do was call Mr. Sweet and could easily find Banebdjedet, get the Ram of Mendes, and get Eddie's Osirian spirit back.

"I haven't spoken to my father in years. Last we spoke he said he was going to cut me off from his bank account if I didn't go into rehab. I didn't go into rehab. He never actually cut me off. I've been running his account since," Eddie admitted. Suddenly Eddie's lifestyle made a little bit more sense. Fabian had been wondering how Eddie had worked at all with the state he was in, but apparently Eddie hadn't been working. He'd just been stealing from his father.

Nina moved next to Eddie and squeezed his hand. "Eddie, if your father never cut you off it's because he couldn't bring himself to hurt you. He still loves you a lot and I'm sure he wants to make everything right. He'll be thrilled to know that what we're doing is to help you get back to normal. Rehab wouldn't have done anything to solve your problem, but this will. He'll be thrilled."

Eddie didn't seem thrilled, not to Fabian at least. Fabian sort of understood. He knew Eddie and his father had never really been close, hence Eddie going by his mother's last name, but they'd been getting better towards Eddie's graduation. Fabian didn't really know what had happened after that but obviously it wasn't good.

See Nina didn't have parents. She could promise Eddie that his father still loved him because everything she knew about parents she knew from books. Fabian had parents. He had the type of parents who shipped him off to boarding school at age 12 and never looked back. They weren't bad people, they were just cut from a different cloth than the make-believe parents of Nina's imagination. Eddie's parents were similar to Fabian's. They had money more than they had time, and they focused more on providing their children with the best possible futures than the happiest childhoods. It wasn't necessarily bad, but it hurt sometimes. It hurt a lot sometimes.

So Fabian understood Eddie's hesitance to call his father far more than Nina ever could, but he also knew they had no option. "We'll wait until Friday, okay? Nina and I can do some more digging, see if we can find anything concrete without having to drive all the way to Liverpool. This isn't a 'this second' sort of thing. You have time to think about what you'll say to him."

Eddie nodded, and forced a smile. Both Fabian and Nina could tell it wasn't real. It was hard to lie to the people who know you best.

* * *

Eddie felt like he was going to throw up. The idea of having to face his father was more terrifying than a dozen vengeful spirits. His father had to be furious. Eddie hadn't been living the high life, no, but drugs cost money. He wasn't proud of the fact that he'd used his dad's bank accounts for drug money, but he hadn't had any better ideas. He couldn't work. He didn't have any real reason to work, to exist. The few jobs he'd held always ended up firing him for being too lackluster. One of his former-bosses had actually gone so far as to call Eddie a zombie when Eddie had been desperate enough to use him as a reference. After that Eddie hadn't been able to find any sort of job at all.

So he'd stolen from his father and spent the days high. He knew that made him the lowest of the low, but it had been the only way for him to feel a little less broken. Or at least he'd felt fulfilled enough not to just shoot himself.

But that kind of lifestyle was expensive. In the past two and a half years Eddie had probably spent 100,000 pounds on drugs alone, and while that was the biggest cost it wasn't the only one. He'd made withdrawals for food, for rent, for booze and a night out. Eddie had actually wondered a million times why his father hadn't just gone and cut him off. Eddie would have been mad if someone stole hundreds of thousands of pounds from him. His father had money, yeah, lots of it handed down the generations, but even he had to notice what Eddie was doing. Eddie had been stealing more than his father probably made in a year as headmaster, and his father had done nothing. (And how could Eddie bring himself to stop doing it when his father made it so damn easy?)

So Eddie had spent two and a half years stealing and lying and getting high. Two and a half years trying to numb a pain that never went away. Two and a half years ignoring the father who obviously cared about him far more than he deserved.

And now Eddie had to go back, the prodigal son, and beg, plead, grovel for his father's help once more. And the worst bit was that Eddie knew his father would give him help. His father would gladly give him help, help he didn't deserve. Help he really, really, really didn't deserve.


	13. Chapter 13

I don't mean to blackmail you, but if I don't get reviews I get sad and when I'm sad I murder characters and tear apart relationships. Just kidding. Mostly. Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 13

Nothing happened for a few days. Nina went to classes, spent her free time researching Banebdjedet and the masons, and waited. She hadn't heard from Anubis since he relayed Osiris's message, so she knew he didn't approve of her current quest. Of course Anubis's disapproval was exactly the proof Nina needed to know she was on the right track. Anubis could be a bit overprotective considering he was the reason she was of any interest at all. If he thought something was a bad idea it probably meant that Nina was getting herself involved in something important.

So she took Anubis's silence as a good sign and continued on the same path as before. She couldn't find anything however, nothing significant at least. It seemed like going to see Mr. Sweet was the only choice they had.

Of course that also meant going back to Amun Boarding School, something Nina had thought she'd never do. A part of her was excited to go back. Her time at Anubis House, while terrifying, had also been filled with love, friendship, and excitement. She had very fond memories of the school and being unable to go back had crushed her. At the same time Nina was worried. She imagined going back would only remind her of how much harder things had gotten since leaving. And while she missed the school it wouldn't be the same without her friends. She was returning with Eddie and Fabian, but what about Amber, Patricia, Alfie, and even Jerome, Joy and Mara? It just wouldn't be the same place without them. It was just a building. Without the people it was just stone.

So Nina tried to think of it as just another mission. It wasn't her going back to her old school; it was just another normal mission. They probably wouldn't even visit Anubis House; there would be no need.

Still when Nina climbed in the back of Fabian's car after her classes finished on Friday she felt the same nervous excitement she had the very first time she traveled to Anubis House. It was truly like she was sixteen again and heading off to boarding school in a foreign country. There was certainly a little fear, and a lot of apprehension, but the excitement overwhelmed everything else. Nina wasn't even sure what she was so excited about. They had a four hour drive and then a conversation with Mr. Sweet; it wasn't exactly thrilling. But the nervous excitement didn't dissipate, not even as awkwardness stretched over the car.

Nina and Fabian were talking again, but very rarely about anything besides Eddie. She had managed to get from him the little fact that he had broken up with his girlfriend, but besides that… He was avoiding her. He was avoiding getting to know her again. Nina didn't even blame him. She had abandoned him and she deserved to pay the price. It had been a sacrifice, and it was one she would make again to keep everyone safe. It wouldn't be a true sacrifice if the repercussions of it didn't hurt.

Nina was therefore trying not to be curious about Fabian either, but it seemed impossible. From the little she'd seen and the even less she'd heard he hadn't changed a bit, or at least not like she and Eddie had. Everything about him was still so familiar, and still so alluring. Nina missed him desperately. He'd been her first (and only) love, and she missed him. She'd always missed him to some extent, but being back with him, but not _with him_ , hurt more than she thought it probably should. She deserved to be rejected, and yet it still hurt that she was. It hurt because what she wanted more than anything was to be with Fabian.

But she couldn't be. She couldn't be back when they were seniors and she couldn't be now that they were adults. Once Eddie had his Osirian powers she would have to leave again. She wasn't even sure she could be there when Eddie got his powers back without it harming him. Once again Nina would have to leave the country. She'd go back to Boston and work for the rest of the semester. She'd have to take classes in the summer to make up the credits; it was too late for her to transfer back and get credit for the semester. Perhaps she'd be good and focus on being the Chosen One for the rest of the year. There was a pharaoh, Hatshepsut, who Nina had seen hovering about the Museum of Fine Arts Boston; perhaps it was time Nina took on that case. Maybe then Anubis would forgive Nina and keep her company. She'd need company after leaving Fabian and Eddie behind for the second time.

Of course Nina hadn't mentioned that she was going to have to leave, but something about the way Eddie looked at her the past few days said he knew. Fabian was probably oblivious, but that was for the best. Fabian didn't need to know that Nina always had to leave so Eddie could stay; it would only make him bitter. And if there was one thing Nina wanted to never see it was a bitter Fabian. To see him loose his spark, that would be devastating.

Therefore Nina let the awkwardness continue. It was better in the end that Fabian didn't feel like she'd ever come back. Then he wouldn't have to lose her again. She'd be easier to forget if he never thought of her in the first place.

* * *

Fabian could think of nothing but Nina.

He knew that things were very awkward between the two of them, but he couldn't help it. Even her reading silently in the back of his car was distracting. She'd been back a week, a week, and in that time Fabian had dropped a class with his favorite professor, broken up with his girlfriend, and gotten back into the Chosen One mess, yet the only thing Fabian was thinking about was Nina. It was ridiculous and he knew it. He was supposed to be more than a lovesick schoolboy. He was too old to feel the way he did about Nina, and yet the feelings were there. There in the very pit of his stomach, in that deepest cavity, Fabian felt butterflies. Every time he noticed the way Nina's hair fell just above her eyes when she read. Every time he saw her flash him a little smile when she thought he wasn't looking. Every time her sweet voice filled his ears with words that might as well be magic. Every time he saw her he felt something, felt something more than a memory. This was Nina, a very really and a very present Nina. Nina, the girl he'd once loved, grown up to be a woman far more spectacular than anything Fabian could believe.

That was the Nina Fabian couldn't stop thinking about.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

It was late by the time they pulled into Amun Boarding School. Eddie hadn't realized quite how long it would take, but between traffic and having to stop for food it took them six hours. It was past nine o'clock by the time Eddie directed them across the school grounds to the old servant's house that was awarded to the headmaster.

"You know we might be better off just getting a room for the night in town and then come back in the morning," Eddie suggested looking upon his father's house. There were a couple lights on, which meant his father was awake, but the place looked so peaceful. It seemed wrong to Eddie to disrupt that peace with his abrupt return.

"No way," Fabian told Eddie locking the car so that Eddie couldn't climb back in and hide any longer. "You've been away far too long. I did not just drive across the country for you to chicken out."

Eddie knew it was true and yet… "Really, I can be brave tomorrow."

Nina grabbed Eddie's hand and looked him dead in the eye. Eddie was actually shocked by the intensity of her glare. This was not the girl he'd once saved from Senkarah. Before him stood a determined woman who was going to give up what she wanted again so Eddie could have a reason to live. She was brave, braver than Eddie thought possible, and yet she said to him, "Edison Sweet, you are the Osirian even if you don't have the spirit of one anymore. You were born to be brave and selfless, so be brave and selfless and walk up to that door or so help me I will get every god I know to curse you a dozen times over."

Eddie's legs still shook, and it was a little hard for him to clamp his sweaty fingers around the knocker. For a moment he turned around, but then he saw Fabian and Nina standing there, and he managed the strength to knock on the door.

"Just a minute," Eddie's father called out, and Eddie couldn't help but laugh. His dad sounded just the same as always, so normal, so kind, so very frazzled. He had no idea what he was about to face when he opened the door.

The door swung open, and Eddie watched his father's jaw drop. It wasn't like in a cartoon, where the mouth landed on the ground, but small, relaxed. It was as if the tension which had held his mouth shut was dissipated by seeing Eddie alive and well. "Edison."

"Hi Dad," Eddie whispered, his voice cracking. He hadn't realized until that moment just how much he'd wanted to be with his dad, but now that he was there… Eddie felt almost whole. "Can we come in?"

Eddie could tell the moment his father noticed that Eddie wasn't alone, and laughed a little at his father's shocked expression. He fumbled in the doorway for a second, but finally came to his senses and opened the door wide. "Please, please, all of you come in."

Eddie's father disappeared into the house leaving Eddie, Fabian and Nina to follow slowly behind. Fabian and Nina continued to hang back a little bit, something which Eddie appreciated. His father was certainly frazzled, but clearly it had yet to cross his mind that he should also be furious. Nina and Fabian were smart to hang back and let father and son speak.

Except Eddie's father didn't seem focused on his wayward son. He was making tea and humming softly to himself. He seemed so calm it freaked Eddie out. How could his father be standing in the kitchen in a bathrobe making tea as if everything was perfectly normal. Nothing was normal.

"Dad, I'm sorry. I should have come sooner," Eddie began because what else could he say. "It… it just didn't feel right. Nothing felt right. But now I know why and we're going to fix it. Nina… Nina figured out the mystery, she'd good at that, and she thinks she knows how to fix me. But we need your help. I want to know if you know anything about the Egyptian god Banebdjedet. We think he's connected to your chapter of Freemasons."

Eddie's father didn't seem to pay him much attention, however. He finished up the tea and brought it over to the living room where he just sat down and began pouring four glasses. Unsure what else to do Nina, Fabian and Eddie just went to sit down, accepting the tea while exchanging weary glances.

"Dad," Eddie was beginning to wonder which one of them had gone insane. "Are you listening to me? I'm sorry that I left. I'm sorry that I stole your money. It was wrong and I'm a terrible son. But I need your help. Have you ever heard the name Banebdjedet before?"

Eric Sweet looked straight at Nina and ignored Eddie completely. "Miss Martin, I am glad to see you are in good health. I worried that the death of the Osirian could prove disastrous to you."

Nina looked between Eddie and his father, but Eddie just shrugged and sat back into the couch. He'd never gotten his father. It had clearly been too much to expect to think that would have changed over the time Eddie was gone. "Thank you Mr. Sweet. I'm well. I just worry about Eddie. I never realized it but when he lost the Osirian spirit it left a hole that nothing else could fill. We need to find the Ram of Mendes to get it back, and the only way to do that is to find Banebdjedet. Do you know him?"

"Banebdjedet is the Egyptian fertility god, am I correct?" Eddie nodded, glad that his father did at least know something. "Yes. I can get you in contact with him I'm sure. It may be a few days however. You are welcome to stay here of course, though I may have a favor to ask of you tomorrow. Edison, why don't you show Miss Martin to the guest room and make room for Fabian in yours, and then come back here so I can speak with you?"

Eddie breathed a sigh of relief. That sounded more like the Father he'd expected. "Yeah, okay," Eddie was still a bit confused, as were Nina and Fabian, but he just shrugged and led them through the house. They didn't speak, not about Eddie's worries or their confusion, they just walked through the old building until Eddie pointed out the two guest rooms. "I guess your stuff is still in the car, isn't it?" Eddie realized when he saw Nina standing awkwardly in her room empty handed. "I'll grab all our bags after I talk to my dad."

"Eddie," Fabian told him and Eddie could see his friend's concern. "It's okay. Obviously your father isn't too furious; he agreed to help us find Banebdjedet. Just keep your cool and you'll be fine."

Eddie nodded, but he was unsure. There were a lot more things that could go wrong then him getting angry and yelling at his dad. Keeping his cool was really the least of Eddie's worries. He was just hoping he wouldn't start to cry.


	15. Chapter 15

Well I didn't update yesterday so here is a super long chapter trying to explain away more plot holes. I've done it though so I'm proud of that. Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 15

Eddie's father was sitting in the living room in one of those big old chairs that were so worn the bottom seemed to sag. His father looked at ease, sipping his tea slowly, but Eddie recognized a certain fear in his father's eyes. He and his father had never been close of course, but Eddie knew when his father was scared. Eddie had scared his father enough times to know that look of fear. In fact fear was one of the few emotions Eddie had ever seen his father display- fear and disappointment.

"Take a seat Edison," his father finally said. Eddie hadn't even realized that his father knew he was there, but he sat down without protest. He didn't even know what to say. "I've been hoping for years that you would call, that you would come and find me. I realize that we have never been close, and I know that is my fault. I left your mother and you in America. I refused her suggestion that you come to school here once you were old enough. When you finally came it was because your mother could find nowhere else that would accept you, so I did. But I kept my distance. When I spoke to you it was to express my disappointment at your behavior, to criticize you for not accepting responsibility for your actions. It never crossed my mind that I never took responsibility for my actions. Your behavior was a result of my distance. I realize that now, but too late, too late. I should have just been honest with you and helped you. I was wrong to think you'd be safer ignorant. I realized that the day you mentioned the word Osirian to me, but even then I did nothing. I kept you in the dark. Your death, the pain you have experienced since, I realize it is my fault, mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa."

Eddie didn't know Latin. He'd had the chance to take it in school and refused; it reminded him too much of his father. Still he knew that phrase. His father had said it all the time when Eddie was younger. Whenever Eddie acted out., whenever Eddie did something strange those were the words his father had uttered. Around the time he was twelve Eddie had finally Googled their meaning, expecting it to be some sort of curse. It wasn't. It was actually part of the Mass- through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault.

Eddie had always thought it was a fitting phrase for his life. Apparently his father felt the same way.

"Dad, it's not your fault," Eddie whispered unsure what else to say. There were tears in his father's eyes. He looked… he looked broken. It terrified Eddie to see his father like this. He'd much prefer to picture his father as an old fart who never let anyone have fun. Seeing his father as a regretful old man… that was something Eddie never wanted.

His father just shook his head. "No Edison, it is my fault. I was a fool who thought I could protect you with ignorance when I should have prepared you. You asked me years ago if I knew what the Osirian was. The answer is yes. I've known about the Osirian my whole life. You see the Osirian curse runs in the family line. It doesn't affect every generation, but it does come every few generations. Have you ever wondered why I was involved in the Secret Society, or how I knew Rufus Zeno, the last Osirian?"

Eddie felt very stupid. This was what Osiris was trying to tell him! The god had said that it was a family curse; Eddie should have realized then that that made him related to Rufus. "Is he your grandfather?"

"Yes. You see the man Rufus believed to be his father was not his father. Gustav Zeno was an ambitious and cruel man. He knew about the Chosen One and the Osirian, and had traced the family lines. He killed Rufus's true family and stole Rufus. He knew if he had the Osirian that he would eventually find the Chosen One, and he could use her to assemble the Cup of Ankh and achieve immortality. Gustav was correct in thinking he'd be able to find the Chosen One; he raised Sarah after her parents died. But she was never able to assemble the cup, and Gustav Zeno died. Rufus only discovered he was adopted once he learned the truth about how the Osirian curse was passed on.

"He had a son, my father, and chose to give him the family name of Osirians-Sweet. For a time Rufus continued to search for the Elixir of Life and he waited for his son to bring the new Chosen One to him. He didn't realize that there was no new Chosen One, that it didn't happen every generation, for a while, but once he did he left everything behind. My father was primarily raised by Victor and the others at the school. Every few years his father would show up and the Secret Society would be revived, but each time they failed to locate Sarah Rufus got angry and would disappear again. Eventually my father had enough of it. Once he graduated he moved away, married a beautiful woman and had a son. He raised his son on stories of Chosen Ones and Osirians, but I didn't know that they were anything but stories until after my father died. My mother never knew the truth either, and so she saw no issue with sending me to my father's alma mater. I was twelve when I moved into Anubis House, and when I was sixteen a man showed up to speak to Victor.

"He looked familiar. He looked like my father, perhaps a year or two older, but not much. I showed him to Victor's office and Victor decided it was time to share with me the truth. I discovered that my father's stories were true, and that my grandfather had stopped aging years ago. Rufus was kind to me for a while, he took me out to dinner, asked me a lot of questions. I thought it was odd that my grandfather, who I'd always thought was dead, could look the same age as my father would have, but I was just excited to be with family. After a few months he stopped coming. I wasn't an Osirian. The curse had skipped another generation, which meant there was no new Chosen One either. Sarah was still hiding from him. He had to continue waiting. He kept enough contact with me that he would know if I ever had a son, but he mostly kept his distance. Victor was kinder. He offered me a position as headmaster after I graduated college. The Secret Society was my grandfather's legacy and I gladly joined. I studied and I learned. I don't think I ever believed in the cause. I had no need for eternal life, but it was a connection to the father I'd lost when I was young, and so I stuck with it.

"And then I met your mother. She came in to apply for a teaching and I told her I could offer her a job or I could offer her a date," Eric smiled to himself, just a little, and very sadly, but he still a smiled. "She chose the date. A few years later you were born, and it was the happiest moment of my life. When we finally took you home, to this very house, I could see your whole future. I saw me teaching you Latin, and you always sneaking away from your mother to go attend class with the big kids. I considered leaving the Secret Society so I could spend my nights with you and not in that dusty old basement.

"But the day I went to tell Victor I no longer wanted to participate your mother was ill. It was just a little cold, but she was still recovering from your birth and so I agreed to take you for the day. I saw no need to change my plans, and went straight over to Anubis House. It was the middle of winter. Snow covered the grounds and I had you wrapped in probably a dozen blankets. You were sweating. I'd been so afraid you'd get cold that I'd gone a bit overboard." He let out a small laugh his eyes bright with the light of memories. "But when I got to Anubis House the door swung open. I didn't touch it. There was no one on the other side. The door just opened. I was terrified, but I went inside and the whole house seemed to come to life. Suddenly I remembered the real purpose of the Secret Society, and I remembered my grandfather. I hadn't seen him since my wedding. He hadn't been invited, I hadn't known how to contact him, but he'd found out anyways and come. He'd congratulated me and told me that he was looking forward to a great-grandson. Not a great-grandchild, a great-grandson. He wanted an Osirian. And when I saw how Anubis House reacted I got a whole new image of your future. I saw you spending your days in the Anubis House cellar. You looked tired, haggard. Victor and Rufus danced about, playing with their Elixir formulas, talking about you but never to you. I saw you used as a lure to bring the new Chosen One to Anubis House. I saw you growing up sad, lonely and used. I saw a beautiful young woman coming and fulfilling her destiny. You would do anything for her, even give your life, and in the end you did. You died before ever graduating, saving your Chosen One from some terrible fate.

"I couldn't stand the images. I left without speaking to Victor, ran back to the house, clutching you next to my chest. When we got home I screamed at your mother, told her you had to go. She thought I'd gone insane. Maybe I had. But it didn't matter. I told her I didn't love her, that I didn't want a child, that she had to leave. Her parents had moved to America; I told her to go to them. For a week she tried to convince me that I didn't mean it. She knew that I didn't mean it, but I kept firm. I even paid for two divorce lawyers, one for each of us. Finally she left. When my grandfather showed up a few years later you were out of everyone's mind; Rufus never knew you existed. I told him the marriage ended without a child, and he believed it. You were safe from your destiny. Sooner or later I knew the Chosen One would find her way to Anubis House, but you would be safe far away. I'd ensure you never came close to the house, that you never met the Chosen One. I never let you visit me here in England. I'd take you to Maine for a few weeks in the summer every year, but I never let you visit me. I couldn't risk Victor remembering you existed and mentioning it to Rufus. And I never told you the truth. I never even told you the stories my father had told me because I told myself that you would never need to know them.

"But then no other school would admit you and your mother begged me to help. I either allowed you to attend here or you dropped out, and I could imagine my son as a high school dropout. I hated the idea of you being here, of you being near Miss Martin, but I was out of choices. And I was comforted by the knowledge that my grandfather was dead, or so I had believed. I allowed you to come, and I watched you. I never told you the truth. It became clear that you weren't a part of Miss Martin's little club, that the two of you barely even knew each other, and so I thought you would never need to know. I had no idea that there was an evil spirit haunting this school, haunting Miss Martin. I thought you were safe, but you weren't. The curse would not go unfulfilled and you were drawn in. You saved Miss Martin and stopped Rufus once and for all. He probably never even knew that you were my son.

But you were safe, for the time being at least, and I could not bring myself to explain when you asked about the Osirian. Then the new term began and Miss Martin was gone. I thought you would be safe without a Chosen One to protect, but I was once again wrong. When you died I thought it was my fault, that I should have prepared you better, but you came back and were no longer the Osirian. It was a wish come true. Everything that happened afterwards seemed fine to me. You were alive. You were no longer cursed to be the Osirian. You were back to being a rebellious teenager and in my mind that was a good thing. I had no idea… I had no idea it would affect you so much, and you never told me because, well, why would you? I'd sent you away as a baby, convinced you that I didn't want you around and never told you the truth that might have helped you along the way. You had no reason to come to me for help, mea culpa."

Eddie sat very still on the couch across from his father. His father had never spoken so plainly before, and Eddie had never listened before. He'd been stubborn, obstinate, full of anger and self-consciousness. It had never crossed Eddie's mind that his father had a good reason for keeping him far away. He'd never asked, and he never listened. Perhaps his father should have told him this story long ago, but Eddie wouldn't have listened. He wasn't ready before. "I'm glad you're only telling me this now," Eddie finally admitted. He was still in a state of shock, and definitely processing the story, but he understood his father for the first time in his life. "If you'd told me this all those years ago when I asked… I wasn't ready. I wouldn't have understood. I was so convinced that you hated me, that I was on my own. I was so full of myself, my anger, my fear; I wouldn't have listened. Now I'm empty, and I can understand. Maybe things would have been different if I had known, but they wouldn't have been better. I wouldn't have been better."

Eddie's father seemed to shake, and tears leaked from his eyes, "So you forgive me for not telling you the truth."

"Only if you forgive me for stealing your money for drugs for two years." Eddie couldn't help it; he was laughing. He'd been so terrified of coming home. He'd never expected his father to forgive him, never mind ask him for forgiveness. It was downright amusing, and Eddie laughed. It started out as a small chuckle, but the smile on his face grew and grew and suddenly he was laughing with joy, with hope. Perhaps he was still broken, but he didn't feel like it at that very moment. It seemed laughter dulled the pain just as well as drugs had.

Eddie's father at first had stared at his laughing son, but eventually he began to laugh as well. He, of course, didn't laugh as hard as Eddie, but he was just as, if not more, joyful. "I was glad you stole my money. I always had too much of it and whenever I noticed something missing from my bank account I knew you were alive. It kept me from worrying too much." The laughter and joy disappeared as he wondered where they went next. "I am worried about you now Edison. I don't understand what you mean about lacking a purpose, but I can tell you're hurting. It never was teenage rebellion. You're hurting and you need the Osirian spirit back?" Eddie nodded. "Why must you ask such a thing of an old man? I will never rest knowing you're in that kind of danger again."

Eddie understood his father's worry, but he knew it was the same way. "I'll be okay Dad," Eddie promised grabbing and holding his dad's shaking hands. "And you can tell me all the stories your father told you. Perhaps I can learn from his mistakes. Nina and I will both be fine."

"I will speak to the others and find out how to find Banebdjedet. You will be the Osirian again and this time you will be able to come to me for help. Just promise me this Edison, promise me you will let me help you, that you won't stay away."

Eddie had spent most of his life thinking his father didn't want him around. To know that wasn't true was like being reborn. "I promise Dad. I promise."


	16. Chapter 16

Update on when Patricia comes in... It looks like chapter 20. I know some of you are just dying of wait, but I promise it will be worth it. Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 16

Nina awoke dazed and confused. Light fell softly over the room from the sun which sat high in the sky. It was late. Nina wasn't sure quite how late, but obviously later than she'd slept in years. Perhaps that was why she felt so off-for once she wasn't tired.

Eddie had come by the night before to explain his conversation with Mr. Sweet. Nina had to admit that she'd pieced together bits of the story in the years since she'd last seen Eddie. She'd discovered that the Osirians had been called Sweets for the past 300 years or so, so she had assumed that Rufus was part of that. Plus Nina had always known that Eddie and Rufus had to be related. These curses were family curses. It took her a few years to trace down the records, but just like Eddie, Nina had gotten the curse from her great-grandparent- apparently there was a reason Nina looked so similar to Sarah.

Except Eddie had admittedly been less excited about finding out the relation. Nina couldn't blame him. Sarah had always been good, kind, beautiful and strong. Rufus had always been murderous, deceitful, selfish, and just plain evil. No one wanted to know that they were related to someone so evil.

But Nina had reminded Eddie of all the good wonderful people he was related to as well. Osirians were some of the most revered men in history. Even the gods looked upon the Osirian with respect. The Egyptian gods weren't particularly renowned for being selfless, but they did admire selflessness, and with the exception of Rufus every Osirian in history had been the embodiment of selflessness.

Nina actually wondered how Rufus could go so wrong. He'd gone so far as to hurt Sarah. Nina couldn't even imagine how that was possible. She couldn't imagine purposely going against her destiny. Perhaps there were times when Nina tried to avoid her fate, but she never went against it. Every bone in her body forbid it. As evil as he was Rufus had to have been remarkably strong to fight the pull of destiny. Nina would give him that.

Not that she'd admit it to Eddie. Nina simply reminded Eddie that he was in no shape or form Rufus, and told him to get some sleep. Everything would look brighter in the morning.

And it did look brighter, literally, the next morning. Nina couldn't believe she'd slept with so much light in the room. Actually she could barley believe she'd slept. There had been no dreams, no ghosts, no gods, and no alarm clock. For the first time in years there had been nothing to wake Nina up, and she was admittedly a bit disturbed by the feeling of being well rested.

Still Nina had been lazy long enough. She took a quick shower in the bathroom that separated the guest room from Eddie's. After dressing Nina found herself staring at the door to Eddie's room. It was so weird for her to picture Eddie having a room on the other side of campus from Anubis House. Obviously he'd never spent more than a few weeks there, but it had been originally intended for him. If Eddie wasn't cursed he would have grown up in that room. Because of the curse he'd never had the chance. _And he wanted to get the curse back._

Of course Nina understood why he needed the Osirian spirit back, but she couldn't help but see the irony of the situation. Being the Osirian had ruined so much of Eddie's life, and yet it was at the same time the one thing that gave Eddie a purpose in life. It was quite odd, and yet Nina understood it. She understood it because it was the same way for her. She would love to never have been the Chosen One, and yet she couldn't imagine life as anything but.

Nina shook her head, tossing water across the bathroom, and hoping her thoughts would go with it. She most certainly thought too much.

After mostly drying her hair, Nina exited the bathroom and began to wander the house. She figured Eddie and Fabian had probably been waiting up for her for hours, but she didn't regret sleeping in. It was nice to feel refreshed.

Nina didn't find Fabian and Eddie however. The only person she found was Mr. Sweet. He sat at the kitchen table a cup of tea in one hand and the newspaper lying out before him. He looked up when Nina came in, surprise evident on his face. "Miss Martin. You're up early." Nina looked over at the old-fashioned grandfather clock that stood to the side of the room; it was past 9 AM. Mr. Sweet caught her looking too, and let out a deep laugh. "I have worked with young people long enough to know that few things can wake them up before noon on a Saturday."

Ah. Nina remembered having slept that late when she was a freshman, but once she'd arrived in England and been forced into her destiny she simply hadn't had the chance to sleep like that. "Most days I'm up long before the sun is, though the sun is up very late this time of year." Nina recalled many morning when it would be second period before the sun actually broke over the horizon. If she remembered right Alfie once staged a protest over them having to get up earlier than the sun. Though if Nina recalled that had really been an excuse for Alfie to dress up as the sun and run through the hallways.

"Well you're welcome to help me with the crossword." Mr. Sweet's candor surprised Nina, but she recalled that he had always been a kind if strict teacher. The only difference was that he was now no longer her teacher, just the father of her friend.

"I also have a few notebooks worth of stories my father used to tell me. You might find them interesting."

Nina now looked at Mr. Sweet with surprise. He seemed just as relaxed to offer her notebooks worth of tales of her ancestors as he had been offering to let her help him with the crossword. Nina wasn't quite sure how to feel about that.

"Um."

"They're in the left cupboard in a fake book."

Nina stood blinking at Mr. Sweet for a moment, but she finally decided that it was odd to just stare at him even if he was very odd as well. Deciding without ever really thinking about it, Nina went to the cupboard. It only took her a moment to figure out which book was fake, and just as Mr. Sweet had said the old battered journals were inside. Nina studied them carefully, but decided that they seemed harmless enough. And she couldn't help but be curious. She knew a lot of tales about former Chosen Ones, even some about Sarah, but none about the time before Rufus betrayed Sarah.

The stories were… interesting. It took Nina only a few pages to realize that these were the stories as told by Rufus, and they were obviously designed to make him seem like a great hero. Or perhaps he once was the great hero Osirians were called to be. Perhaps it was only after he began his cursed quest for eternal life that everything went so terribly wrong. In the first stories Nina read Sarah and Rufus were only sixteen and neither of them knew what their powers meant. It was oddly sweet, and sad at the same time. Neither of them got particularly graceful ends.

"What is a six letter synonym for periapt?"

Nina was so engrossed in reading about Rufus and Sarah's (awkward) encounter with the god Bes that it took her a minute to remember why Mr. Sweet would ask such a random question. "Sorry. No idea. What even is a periapt?"

"It's the Greek term for an amulet, which is six letters and probably your answer." Nina hadn't even realized that Fabian and Eddie were up, but there they stood behind her dressed and looking refreshed. (Nina couldn't help the butterflies that appeared in her stomach when she realized just how nice Fabian looked when refreshed.)

Mr. Sweet filled in the word, and then looked at the assembled crew. "Thank you Mr. Rutter, that reminded me of something important. I have placed a few calls to other members of my chapter of Freemasons. Hopefully we'll be able to assist in your location of Banebdjedet. While we wait I have a favor to ask of you three. I am concerned about the current residents of Anubis House. They've been a troublesome bunch from the beginning. Some of them unfortunately seem to have been inspired by their little escapade at your graduation, and there are others who seem to have joined in. I even begged Victor to return this year in the hope that someone could reign them in, but it seems to be of no avail. I know that not even Victor knows the secrets of Anubis House as you three do, and I hoped that you might go see what they are up to. Assist them if you must, though I cannot know what they might need assistance with. Theoretically there should be nothing for them to need help with considering they are neither Osirians nor Chosen Ones, but they seem to find trouble anyways. Whatever you must do talk them out of it, and please figure out how they're managing to sneak around as it is."

Nina didn't know what to say, but Fabian summed it up well. "Well, it's the least we can do. Erin, Cassie and Dexter are officially members of Sibuna, and we Sibuna are always willing to help."


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Eddie had been feeling better.

There was still an ache in his chest that sometimes felt like a ticking time bomb, but he'd been focused. He'd been focused on find a solution, on working with Fabian and Nina. He had a purpose. He was working towards getting the Osirian spirit back, that was his purpose, and he'd felt it. The ache hadn't felt like a hole. His mission was a shallow bridge he clung to, but it was a bridge none-the-less. He'd felt better on the bridge then in the abyss below.

Standing outside Anubis house Eddie lost it. He sunk to the ground on the field outside the house. It was the same field where he and Patricia's detention had gotten so out of control they both ended up filthy. Eddie ached at the thought of Patricia. She wasn't with them. She'd never be with them. Even if he got the Osirian spirit back it wouldn't matter because he'd already ruined everything with Patricia. And who was to say he'd even get the Osirian spirit back? His dad was working on it, but what did that even mean. What could his father accomplish? Wasn't that why Rufus had thrown his grandson aside, because he couldn't do anything? Well Eddie couldn't do anything anymore either. He'd never be able to do something again. It wasn't like the old days. Back then he'd look upon Anubis House and just know what he was supposed to do. The House had spoken to him once. It had guided him, in saving Nina, in stopping Ammut. But now the House was silent. As far as Eddie could sense it was empty of the spirit which had once guided, but it wasn't empty. Nina looked wholly at peace before the House. She looked like she'd just reclaimed a piece of herself. But Eddie hadn't because the House wasn't empty; he was.

"Eddie?" Fabian's voice shook a little bit as he crouched down next to Eddie. The ground was cold, covered in dew, but Eddie just sat there, staring at the blatant reminder of his own inconsequential existence. "Eddie are you alright?"

Nina had been focused on the house, but upon hearing Fabian's voice she turned and faced Eddie. Eddie decided then and there that Nina was radiant. It wasn't like that, it never had been, but Nina radiated purpose, drive, power. All the things Eddie had lost.

He turned his head towards the dead frozen grass. At least he could relate to the grass.

"Eddie," Nina must have knelt right next to him, because her voice was soft and low, but Eddie didn't look at her. Looking at her meant looking at everything he wasn't. "Eddie you're almost there. Focus on the mission. You do have a purpose. You are the Osirian. It doesn't matter that the spirit, the curse, is gone. You are the Osirian. Your personality, your emotions, they compliment mine even now because you are the Osirian. You have a purpose. And maybe right now you can't feel, but when you pretend to feel something, when you act like you would if you did feel something, the feeling will follow. You can convince yourself that you have a purpose long enough for you to get one. You just have to stand up and walk into that House with me. Think about protecting me. Think about what it felt like to protect me from Senkarah. That is your purpose. Focus on that. And walk through that door with me."

Eddie stared at Nina, and eventually grabbed her hand. He did remember. He could pretend. Nina needed him. His purpose was to be there for Nina when she needed him and he was. He didn't need superpowers to be there for Nina. He didn't need to be the Osirian to be there for Nina. He didn't need to be the Osirian to fulfill his purpose.

The ache was still there, but as Eddie got up he felt the bridge expand, stretching out in all directions and giving him a firm footing to stand on.

Fabian was a horrible human being.

Nina and Eddie were walking a little bit ahead of him, and Fabian couldn't help but stare at the way Eddie was holding Nina's hand. Their fingers were intertwined. Why were their fingers intertwined?

He was being ridiculous and he knew it. Eddie didn't see Nina that way. Nina didn't see Eddie that way. Nina was simply the person to whom Eddie was irrevocably bound and dedicated. Besides it wasn't like Fabian could be jealous. That implied he cared about Nina like that. He didn't. He didn't.

Shit. He did.

And that was it, Fabian couldn't deny it anymore. He still liked Nina. He still loved Nina. She'd hurt him. She continued to hurt him. But she could only hurt him because he loved her. He'd never stopped loving her. And being back in her presence, seeing the spectacular woman she'd become killed him. Every time they were separate his thoughts drifted to her. When they got together he pretended not to care, but each passing minute, each word she said, caused his body to melt. A deep feeling of satisfaction, of happiness, settled in his core whenever Nina was there. When she was gone it was easy to ignore. When she was gone Fabian told himself that he was being dramatic, that it wasn't real, that he felt nothing. When he was alone he believed it. Then Nina returned, with her quick smile, her graceful step, her brilliant mind, and she'd look at Fabian. She'd look at Fabian and he realized the only lie was telling himself he could ever forget what it felt like to be with her. It was like floating on a cloud, completely unaware of everything going on around you. It was like every cell was on fire, every sense hyper alert, everything coming in at once and being processed at an alarming speed. It was everything. It was nothing. It was love.

They were back where they began, and yet Fabian's feelings hadn't changed. He still loved Nina. She was way out of his league. Perhaps she wasn't even good for him, but he still loved Nina.

The Chosen One.

His Chosen One.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Nina had never met Erin or Cassie or Dexter was it? She didn't have a clue who was living in Anubis House or what they were up to. She did know that it would, undoubtedly, not be anything good, and that this whole trip was about to get even more stressful.

But Nina also knew Anubis House. It was the house of her family, her blood. The secrets it held called to her blood, to her Chosen One spirit. It called to her, and looking upon it gave her a firm sense of rightness. It reminded her of her own purpose.

And the House knew Nina. Before she was even within an arms length of the door it sprung open to welcome her.

"Oww!"

Nina cringed as she noticed the teenager coming around from behind the door. She had dark hair, and looked perhaps Asian to Nina, but the fact that she was rubbing her nose was what Nina really noticed. Oops.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry," Nina muttered rushing forward. "Are you okay?"

The girl nodded but she seemed a bit distracted. Something about the way she stared at Nina made the older girl worry. Had she accidentally given this student a concussion? Now wouldn't that be indicative of the trouble she always brought to Anubis House.

But the girl shook her head in a way that would have hurt too much if she was really concussed. (Nina would know. She'd had her fair share of horrific injuries and accidents.) "I'm fine… how did you open the door? You weren't even on the steps."

Nina grimaced again. Apparently the girl was smart and observant, something that usually got people in trouble around Nina. "Sorry… Um. Sometimes the door just does that. It must have been the wind."

The teenager obviously didn't believe Nina, but at that moment she looked past and noticed Fabian and Eddie. "Oh my gods! Eddie? Fabian? What are you doing here?"

"Hi Erin," Fabian told girl, and Nina realized that this must be one of the kids that had been involved with the whole touchstone incident. No wonder she'd been so concentrated on the door; she knew that everything was not what it seemed in Anubis House.

Eddie didn't say anything, but Fabian elbowed him, "Um hi."

"Oh my gods! You're Nina aren't you?" The girl, Erin, suddenly realized. "That's why the door opened for you! It's nice to meet you. Anubis is always talking about you."

That stopped Nina in her tracks. Anubis? Obviously the girl knew that the gods existed, Ra had almost killed her, but why was she talking like she spoke to Anubis. He only spoke to Nina, right? "How do you know Anubis?"

Erin grimaced, clearly realizing that she'd said too much. "The three of you should probably come in. I'll get the others and we can all talk."

"So Cassie and Dexter are still here?" Fabian asked and Nina didn't miss the way his eyes flashed towards her. He was trying to help Erin change the subject. Nina wasn't sure whether it was because he didn't want to think about Anubis, or because he didn't want Nina thinking about Anubis. It really didn't matter one way or another; Nina was not about to forget that this girl had just casually mentioned Anubis.

"Dexter's parents pulled him a few months ago… he got into an accident of sorts and his parents wanted him where they could keep a better eye on him."

Nina knew nothing about Dexter, or even this Erin, but she knew body language. There was something else to the story of Dexter's withdrawal. There was too much tension in Cassie's shoulders for it to be anything but.

"Don't mention him to Cassie, okay? She was really upset about it."

Nina didn't need to know to know that Cassie and Dexter had been a couple. She knew exactly what it felt like to have to go to a different school than the person you love. She knew what it was like to have to leave.

Anubis House was exactly how Nina had left it. There was of course different clothes lying around, different coats on the hook by the door. But the same sarcophagus stood in the hallway. The same chandelier hung above the foyer. That chandelier had a piece of the cup in it, didn't it? Nina could barely remember. She hadn't thought about it in years. Once it had been the most important thing in her life to know where the cup pieces were; now she could barely remember.

"We can talk in Cassie and my room," Erin told them indicating the room that Nina would always consider Patricia's. "I'll go grab the others."

Fabian and Eddie nodded and headed right back up, but Nina found herself lingering. The house wasn't as unchanged as she thought. It had obviously been rebuilt to look the same, but there were subtle changes to a few walls. There were parts of the house that felt different from the others… parts that felt dead.

Nina let out a deep breath. People changed. The world changed. It was only natural that Anubis House should change as well. It wasn't truly timeless; it just felt so.

Nina pulled herself away and made it up to the stairs. She couldn't help but smile as she ran her hand along the staircase railing. That was the original. It was what she'd touched every day for years. It was the banister her great-grandmother had slid down as a child. The banister her great-great grandfather built. The house sung to her, to her legacy. She missed this place. She belonged there.

At the top of the stairs Nina found herself looking into Victor's office. He was in there stroking Corbier's feathers. Years ago she'd been terrified of that bird, terrified of Sarah's warnings. Now the bird was a welcome sight. It was a part of a better time. The whole house was.

"You look older."

Victor practically jumped a foot when Nina spoke to him, but his expression turned from surprise to something softer when he recognized the young woman leaning in his doorway. "I should hope so Miss Martin. I have been without Elixir to extend my life for too long now. I am finally dying again. It's a terrifying prospect."

"It's not so bad. The Afterlife, the weighing of the soul… I've seen it. You gave up your quest for immortality when you realized it required killing someone. You've saved our lives even when we didn't realize it. Your heart will be light." Nina knew it would be. She could tell, but Victor snorted. "You still have time to unload it if you must. You're not dying tomorrow." Of course Nina didn't know that for sure, but there was no good reason for him to suddenly die. She could see if he was ill and on the brink of death. He wasn't. He appeared no older than fifty.

Nina could tell he didn't believe her one bit, but he went back to stroking Corbier, "Are you here alone?"

"Fabian and Eddie," Nina explained. She found it oddly easy to talk to Victor. They'd obviously never liked each other, but Nina had a better understanding of him now that she was older. He'd feared death and wanted desperately to live forever. It was truly his deepest desire. But he gave up his quest not once but twice upon realizing that it put his students in danger. He was scared of death more than anything, but he was still good enough to go beyond his fears and do the right thing. That was a power few had, and something that truly made Victor one of the best people Nina knew. (How sixteen year old Nina would laugh if she knew).

"I don't imagine I want to know why you are here," Victor finally responded and Nina could have sworn that she was seeing Victor Rodenmaar smile. "But I hope you can take the time to explain to the current residents of this house that the gods of Egypt are not a force to be played around with or Mr. Lloyd will be the first of many casualties."

It took Nina a second to realize that 'Mr. Lloyd' was probably Dexter. It seemed Erin hadn't been completely upfront about his 'accident'. Clearly they did have a lot to discuss with the new Sibuna, and Nina would have to beat some sense into them. They were playing with things they did not understand and it would not end well.

"I should go. The others are probably waiting… I'll do what I can to find out what they're up to and solve it before they get in any more trouble. It's my job, not theirs," Nina promised turning to leave. She wanted to know what these kids were thinking getting involved in something so dangerous.

"Miss Martin," Victor called his hesitancy clear from the treble of his voice. "I knew Sarah from the time we were children, and I know she would be very proud of you."

Nina couldn't help her broad smile.


	19. Chapter 19

For the record I really, really, really, really hate semester exams. You're all welcome to shoot me if you'd like. I wouldn't have to study then.

Enjoy! If you derive any happiness from this is will relieve my misery tenfold.

* * *

Chapter 19

The room reminded Eddie of Patricia.

It looked nothing like when she lived there. All her posters were gone an in their place were science things and magazine covers. Nothing about the room screamed 'punk rock' or 'Patricia', but it was still her room. Eddie could feel her presence, her legacy, in the room even now, years later, and it made his heart ache. Damn he missed her. Damn he missed her so bad and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Poppy?"

Fabian's voice cut through Eddie's haunted mind, and he realized that they were not alone. Fabian, Eddie, and Nina had been joined by Erin, Cassie, Poppy Clarke, and a boy whose name Eddie didn't know. The former three all knew the old graduates, and were rightly confused, but the boy, a geeky-looking blond who might have been Fabian's reincarnation, seemed like he thought it was perfectly normal for three strangers to be in on their Sibuna meeting.

Eddie smirked a little bit. Perhaps this teen wasn't all Fabian because that was much more the reaction one would expect of Eddie than his best-friend.

"Fabian?" Poppy answered giving Erin an odd look. "Eddie? Nina? What are all you doing here?"

"What are you doing here?" Fabian answered giving the girl a look. "You went to a school closer to your dad, and you're not even in the same grade as them."

Poppy rolled her eyes and plopped down on the bed across from where Eddie and the former Anubis residents were standing. "I skipped a grade. You didn't really think Jerome was the smart one, did you? As for my dad… well sometimes space is actually better."

Eddie felt a prick of guilt. Obviously their happy family reunion hadn't lasted long, and Eddie couldn't help but wonder if it would be the same for him. At the moment his father was acting nice and they were getting along, but could it really last? Even if Eddie understood why he'd been sent away he still had years worth of hurt feelings. Would those come back to bite them as they'd obviously done with Poppy?

"Besides, I think it was fate that I ended up being in Anubis House. Obviously there was no other way I was going to be told about my brother being kidnapped… twice."

Eddie twinged a little bit and he could almost feel an ache in his own head. Rufus had never been particularly kind to Jerome… or to anyone. "Jerome didn't like to talk about it. He wanted nothing to do with Sibuna."

"Well then we know he's stupid," Poppy declared sitting back against the wall. "But why are you all here? Erin didn't look happy when she called us all together."

"I'm not unhappy to see you," Erin quickly defended a blush rising in her cheeks. "It's just not the best time. We've been having some difficulties."

It was then that Eddie noticed how sickly all of them looked. They obviously hadn't been sleeping much and even the array of makeup on the dresser in the corner of the room didn't seem to work for covering up the bags under their eyes. And it didn't cover the bruise on Cassie's neck either. It was faded, barely noticeable, but still apparent. Someone had hurt her, bad.

"Sorry, but who are you all?" The other boy asked looking around. "Because obviously everyone else knows, but I don't."

"Julian this is Eddie, Fabian, and Nina… Nina Martin," Erin introduced. Eddie didn't like the way she emphasized Nina's name. Obviously they all had heard of the Chosen One, but the how was the bit Eddie didn't like. Did it have something to do with Erin mentioning Anubis? Even Eddie didn't get that. Why would they be talking to Anubis when he barely understood why Nina spoke to Anubis.

"Oh," Julian answered his blue eyes widening. "Oh it's such an honor to meet you!" Eddie couldn't help but laugh as he went over and literally shook Nina's hand. She had a horrified look on her face, and blushed red as the boy continued to fangirl over her. "You're incredible, really. I can't believe I'm getting to meet you. I've read about all of your work and…"

"Julian," Cassie interrupted and Eddie was surprised by her tone. She'd been a lot like Amber when they first met, but now her tone was harsh and reminded. She sounded… she sounded like a leader. "That's enough. Leave her alone."

"It's okay," Nina told Julian quickly, but he still scurried away under Cassie's hard glare. "We just want to talk. I know you were initiated into Sibuna after I was gone. What I don't understand is why Erin mentioned… Wait a minute, is that my necklace?"

Eddie followed Nina's gaze to Cassie. He'd been so focused on the bruise on her neck that he hadn't noticed the chain lying there. The locket was tucked beneath her shirt, but Eddie had worn it long enough to recognize it from just the chain. Oh shit. Nina was gonna kill him.

"How did she get Sarah's necklace?" Nina asked practically starring Eddie down. "I gave it to you."

"I left it in the attic," Eddie admitted with a grimace. He certainly did not enjoy being on the receiving end of Nina's anger. He actually wondered how any god could try and fight her. One look and she could probably terrify Apophis himself! "It didn't work for anyone but us and once I lost my powers I didn't think it would work for anyone but you! And since you'd changed your number I couldn't give it back so I just left it in the attic."

Eddie watched Nina let out a large breath through her nose, but she didn't continue her rampage. Instead she turned to Cassie, "Eddie was wrong, wasn't he? You can use the necklace. We would never have gotten around Victor if I hadn't had its power. There is no way you are unless it works."

Cassie slowly nodded, and Eddie felt so stupid. He should have just taken it with him. He'd assumed it only worked for the Chosen One and the Osirian, but obviously he'd been wrong.

Or not. "It didn't work at first," Cassie admitted pulling the necklace off and fiddling with it. "We found it hidden in the attic near a wall with the same symbol. Dexter, Erin and I all tried but nothing happened. We were young and stupid, okay? They made us Sibuna members before they left, but it meant nothing. We just wanted to have our own adventure. And so we started to do some research. Julian is the king of research and he ended up finding out what we were up to and helped. After a few months I had a dream of Anubis. He explained to me why the locket would never work for us, but then said he could make it work. He told me that I would have no other abilities and it would be dangerous. He actually told me I shouldn't do it, but he gave me the option. He'd give me a fragment of the Chosen One power, just enough that the locket would work, and all I had to do was make sure all the artifacts hidden in the house were safe. It sounded like the perfect deal and so I agreed. Once the necklace worked we had access to places all over campus. We explored and we loved it. But after a few months things started to happen. We disturbed artifacts the Frobisher-Smythes had stolen when we explored, and the spirits and gods attached to them started coming to me. I should have known better than to make that deal, but I didn't and since then we've had to deal with a lot of things."

"It's still fun though," Poppy expressed and Eddie could tell she meant it. The others didn't seem very convinced. "She makes it sound like it's all gloom and doom. We fight ghosts for an extracurricular activity. It's fun."

"Tell that to Dexter," Cassie snapped at the younger girl.

Eddie knew that tone. He knew what it felt like to feel responsible when someone on your team got hurt. "What happened?"

Even Poppy seemed a bit unsettled by Eddie asking that. They shifted from foot to foot and glanced nervously at each other, but Cassie finally sighed and answered, "The first day of school we got a note. Someone telling us that there was a rod stolen from Tut's tomb along with everything else and buried somewhere on the property. The note told us that all we had to do was find it and leave it out for them to collect, but it said that we'd regret it if we didn't do anything."

"A note?" Nina repeated. She was sitting on one of the beds. (Patricia's Eddie realized). As she asked, however, she stood up and began pacing. "A note? Not a vision or a sign, a note?"

Erin nodded clearly understanding Nina's train of thought despite Eddie having no clue. "Yeah, I thought it was odd too. We decided that it was probably just a normal person trying to scare us. We even thought it was Dexter who'd written it. But then Poppy went to visit her dad and a car came out of nowhere and ran them down. Poppy was fine but Jerome had been driving and he was in the hospital for a week."

"It wasn't an accident," Poppy admitted her eyes cast downwards. "They were trying to hit us. I saw the driver's eyes; it was like he was possessed. When the police asked him about it later they ended up having him committed. And then the second note came 'I warned you'."

A shiver went down Eddie's back. He didn't like the fact that Jerome had been hurt, but he hated the fact that they weren't even sure who, or what, they were dealing with. Still he tried to keep his head. This had once been his job, and his father had asked for their help. "Have you been looking for this rod?"

Cassie nodded, "Yeah. After that we decided we had to do something. But we had nothing to go on and apparently we weren't working fast enough. Dexter got shot. He told everyone that it was a random mugging, that it was an accident, but I know it had to do with this rod. We've been working tirelessly, but the House is fighting back." She pulled down her shirt collar to reveal the remains of the bruises there. "Ever since Anubis gave me that sliver of power the House has seen me as a part of it. It doesn't know that I'm not actually the Chosen One, that I'm not a descendent of Amneris. It's protected me before, but I was looking in this side tunnel area, I don't think you ever explored it, and suddenly I was being choked by the House."

As horrible and baffling as that was, Eddie did see a bright side. "Well at least we have an idea of where this rod is. That tunnel has to have a clue. Give me the locket, I'll check it out. This is no longer your fight."

"Eddie," Nina whispered her voice dark. "You can't go any more than they can. The House doesn't know you anymore. I'm the only one who has a chance of getting it to cooperate."

She was right, which pissed Eddie off. "Well I'm not letting you go alone. It attacked Cassie while thinking she was you. That's not something you want to mess with alone."

"Besides it's still our fight!" Poppy argued.

Eddie and Nina (and even Fabian) were in agreement on this one, "No way!"

"That necklace belonged to my grandmother," Nina reminded Cassie extending her hand. "It belongs to me and I want it back. Anubis has no right getting you involved in this. Leave it to me, please."

Eddie watched the two girls stare each other down, but Nina was truly terrifying. After a long moment Cassie sighed and pulled the locket off, handing it back to its rightful owner. It glowed red when touching Nina's hand, but settled when she placed it back around her neck. "I promise you that this will be over and I'll talk to Anubis about uncursing you. You'll be able to have a chance to be normal."

"We don't want to be normal." Julian had been so quiet that Eddie had forgotten about him, but he spoke up then. "No offense Miss Martin but as dangerous and hard as this is I can't imagine going back to being normal, not knowing what I do. I would hate it if you could fight this one though. I think we're all a little out of our league."

"I'll figure it out," Nina promised, and Eddie noticed the sympathetic smile she was giving Julian. "And then we can talk about where things go from here for Sibuna. Just let us be the adults while you catch up on some sleep."

The four teenagers slowly nodded, even Poppy agreeing that perhaps it was better to sit this one out. It wasn't hard for Eddie to understand why they were backing down. Nina surely couldn't tell, but she'd switched over into Chosen One mode. She'd gone from being a simple college student to being a sheer force of nature.

Eddie found himself glancing at Patricia's bed once more. He wished he still had his force of nature.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Fabian didn't know what to do.

Nina's mind was clearly spinning as they left Anubis House. Fabian could tell that she wasn't quite sure what to make of the whole situation just because of the way she was biting her lip. He too was confused. It seemed odd for there to be so many strange and dangerous accidents and yet no sign of a spirit or ghost. It did seem like it was some normal person in over their head, and yet how could a normal person arrange these accidents. It was odd.

And he could do nothing to help. He would undoubtedly follow Nina wherever this mission took them, but that didn't mean he could help. He couldn't do research without a clue and research had always been his strong suit. He didn't have anything to do to help. _Fabian, you don't want to help. You were supposed to be getting out of this Egypt stuff. You wanted a normal life._

 _But Nina_

Nina- that was what it all came down to. Now that Fabian had admitted it to himself he couldn't stop thinking about how he felt about Nina. He loved her and he would stick with her. If that meant he was getting back into the mess than okay. He didn't need a normal life; he needed Nina.

Of course it would have been preferable if she liked him as well, but Fabian didn't know what to do on that front either. How do you make a force of nature love you? It's simply not possible. But Fabian didn't care. He loved Nina. It didn't matter to him if she cared back. He would care for her and love her and help her. Because she needed his help. Fabian didn't know how to help, but he knew he would help.

"I can't believe Anubis would do that to her."

They had walked back to Mr. Sweet's house in silence, and Fabian wasn't even sure Nina had meant to utter the words aloud. She had though, and Eddie was already inside. Fabian was the one still out in the cold with her. With her.

"I'm sure he had a good reason." It hurt Fabian to defend the god, but Nina clearly cared about him. It would do him no good to be attacking her 'friend' when she was already upset. "And we're going to solve this and help Cassie, help all of them."

Nina nodded, but Fabian knew she wasn't convinced. Still when she looked up at Fabian he was greeted with her wide smile and it melted him. She had the most beautiful smile in the world. She was beautiful. She was so, so beautiful. "I missed you Fabian. I really, really missed you. I'm glad to be back now, to be back with you. I'm glad that things are the way they used to be."

Fabian's heart missed a beat. Perhaps it was her words, or the way she had to wipe her perfect hair from her perfect eye or perhaps… "It's not how it used to be. Between us I mean. I mean we were always… well we were always more."

He'd hurt her. He hadn't even meant to and he'd hurt her. Damn him. She had the power to tear him to pieces and yet the slightest pain he caused her hurt a million times worse.

"I'm sorry Fabian, you deserve better than me," Nina whispered. Fabian couldn't help himself; he moved a step closer and pulled her into a tight hug. Nina stiffened in surprise, but after a moment Fabian felt her relax and rest her head on his chest. "I'm so, so sorry."

Nina didn't know what to do.

Fabian was holding her, holding her the way she needed him to hold her, and all she could do was apologize. What else could she say? She couldn't offer him the promise of a second chance because she was still leaving. As soon as Eddie had the Osirian spirit back she had to leave the country again. It would be too dangerous for them to be in the same country, in the same city. Nina didn't know the exact workings of the curse. She didn't know just how far away from Eddie she'd have to be. She had to leave though. She had to leave Eddie in Fabian's care. He'd help Eddie pick up the pieces of his life. Fabian could help Eddie readjust to being human and Nina… Nina would be far away. She would do her thing and try and stay safe for Eddie's sake. She's try not to remember how close she'd been to being with Fabian once more.

Nina didn't know what to do, so she pulled away from Fabian. "We should go inside."

Nina noticed the hurt look in Fabian's eyes. He wanted to talk about them, but Nina didn't know what to say. There was nothing she could do and there was nothing she could say.

Eddie had a smile on his face when Nina entered the house. "Shh," he whispered pointing to where his father was talking on the phone. (Nina laughed when she realized it was such an old phone that it was actually attached to the wall. "He's on with another mason."

Nina breathed a sigh of relief. Hopefully they could solve Eddie's problem… though she also needed to help the Anubis gang before she left and… Nina really didn't know what to do.

"Okay, thank you," Mr. Sweet's voice grew louder as he walked into the front room where Nina, Fabian and Eddie stood waiting. "Well I have bad news. Banebdjedet no longer has the Ram of Mendes. It is hidden in one of the tunnels beneath the school. Robert Frobisher-Smythe hid it along with his most dangerous artifacts. I'll have to do more digging to find out where."

"Why don't we just call him?"

Sometimes Nina forgot that Eddie wasn't dumb. He had this plain look in his eye that shocked Nina. It was such a simple idea, one they'd never have thought to consider. Nina had known that her great-great grandfather was still alive, but it had never crossed her mind ever just to call him up and ask about things.

"Yes, yes I suppose that would work," Mr. Sweet seemed surprised as well. Nina imagined that he was often shocked by his son's traits. "But there is something else you should know. My colleague said that the Ram can only be opened by someone who knows the Ren of the Osirian."

"What's a Ren?"

Nina cringed at Eddie's question, but she probably had the best understanding of any of them, so she searched for the answer the best she could. "The Egyptian soul has five parts. One of those parts is your Ren, your secret name. It's a name known only to the person who knows you best, your soul mate. We can't get your Osirian spirit back without having your soul mate with us. I'm sorry."

Eddie didn't know what to do.

A part of Eddie wanted to sit down and cry. Of course a part of Eddie always wanted to cry, he was broken after all, but the urge was stronger than normal.

But a part of Eddie was also leaping for joy because he knew. He knew what a Ren was even though he'd asked. He knew it in his heart. Because he knew someone's Ren. He knew someone's Ren better than he knew himself, better than he knew how to breathe.

Eddie didn't know what to do because he knew who his soul mate was, and he knew that Patricia deserved better than ever having to see him again.


	21. Chapter 21

Sorry for not updating. I had exams and then no motivation to write. Anyways, here is an update now.

* * *

Chapter 21

Nina had never met her great-great-grandfather. She supposed most people never got the opportunity to. Most people were lucky to ever meet a great grandparent, never mind someone born a hundred and fifteen years before you. But Nina found that her cursed family was granted small graces one of them being a shockingly long natural lifespan should they somehow survive all the Egyptian gods and ghosts trying to kill them.

So Nina called up her 140-something-year-old great-great-grandfather using the number he'd given to Eddie in case of emergency. She wasn't exactly sure what she'd say to him when he answered. She wasn't even sure if he knew she existed. Obviously he had to. He knew Eddie was the Osirian which meant there would have to be some Chosen One, for there to be a Chosen One he'd have to have a descendant Eddie's age. So even if he didn't know anything about Nina he knew she existed. Of course that was presuming that he was still lucid after spending almost a century cursed and then coming back to life as a really, really, really old man. Eddie reassured Nina that he'd always seemed rational, if occasionally murderous, but that had been three years ago. Who knew how his mind hadn't failed since. Nina couldn't expect logic from him. She just had to hope he remembered where he'd hidden the Ram of Mendes, for Eddie's sake.

She was calling for Eddie, not to meet her long-lost relative. She could not think that he'd somehow be able to fill the hole in Nina's life. Yes they were related, but very distantly. Nina didn't have family. She didn't need to.

"Robert Frobisher-Smythe, how may I help you?" A formal voice finally answered after Nina had tried calling twice. He sounded coherent, which was certainly a good sign, and Nina suddenly realized that he was British. Of course she'd known he was British, but that meant she was British as well. Her obsession with England was really just an obsession with her heritage, which really wasn't that abnormal. (The thought made Nina smile. Everything about her was abnormal.)

"Hi," Nina began unsure exactly how to phrase things. Since there really was no tactful way to do things, Nina decided just to go for it. "Hi. My name is Nina Martin. I'm your great-great-granddaughter."

Robert as silent on the other side of the phone, and Nina bit her lip with anxiety. Did he believe her? Was he upset? Did he simply not care? She didn't have a clue what he was thinking; all she could hear was the steady sound of his breathing. He was there, lingering on the other end, but not saying anything.

Nina was about ready to panic and just hang up when he finally answered. "You're the Chosen One, correct? Sarah's great-granddaughter? I heard you look just like her but I was always afraid to track you down and find out for myself."

The locket around Nina's neck suddenly felt very heavy, and she popped it open to stare at Sarah's picture. They really did look similar. "Yes. Yes I look a lot like Sarah did."

"I didn't know her when she was your age," Robert admitted softly, his voice cracking across the line. "I'm sorry. You didn't phone to hear and old man's ramblings… how did you phone?"

"I got your number from Eddie. That… that's why I'm calling you actually." It suddenly crossed Nina's mind that it was actually really horrible to call up your relative for the first time ever to ask a favor. "Eddie needs help and I was told that you hid the Ram of Mendes. I was hoping you could tell me where."

Nina had always been under the impression that posh Victorian gentlemen did not swear like sailors. Apparently that was a lie. "I made many mistakes when I was younger. I was greedy and stole things I should never have messed with. My mother was a Chosen One as well. I knew that curses were very real and very dangerous, but I could not help myself from stealing things. I told myself it was to protect them from people who would seek to abuse their power, but I was greedy. I stole things and I hid them away, sometimes without knowing what they really were… I'm sorry Nina but I cannot tell you where the Ram of Mendes is hidden. It is not a particularly dangerous artifact, but what I hid it with is. I didn't know it at the time, but when I found out I called in every favor I could and hastily put up powerful curses to keep it from ever being discovered. I should have moved the Ram before putting up these curses, but I failed to. You cannot get to the Ram of Mendes. If there is anything else I can do to help you or Eddie please tell me, but you can never go to where the Ram is hidden."

Nina was about to try and convince him to change his mind, but she suddenly realized that she didn't have to. Cassie and the new Sibuna had claimed that the hallway they were investigating had fought against them. It had to be the same hallway Robert was now refusing to tell Nina about.

"It's okay," Nina told the old man hoping he wouldn't have a clue that she wasn't going to heed his warnings one bit. He didn't need that kind of stress at his age. "You've helped. Thank you, I should go."

"Nina," Robert answered and Nina could hear the apprehension in his voice. He was scared. He was scared but he spoke anyways. "Call whenever you want. I never really got a chance to know my family. I… I would like a chance to change that."

"I'll try," Nina promised but she didn't really mean it. She tried not to bring people into her life. The people in her life always ended up hurt. "Bye."

"Goodbye Nina."

Nina hung up the phone and sat silently for a moment. She was in the back seat of the car and the boys were up front. Fabian was calm and relaxed, his hair a little bit tousled, but in a good way that made every cell in Nina ache. He was so… he was so attractive. It wasn't just that he was sexy, though Nina couldn't deny that he was. He was attractive. It was like he radiated a certain gravity that just pulled Nina in. Everything about him made Nina not want to go away.

But she had to go away. Despite all the obstacles being thrown in their path they were going to get Eddie his purpose back. Once they did Nina would have to leave. Nothing changed that.

Not even the little grin on Fabian's face as he looked in the rear view mirror at Nina. "Did he tell you where the Ram of Mendes is?"

"No, but he didn't have to. It's wherever this rod that Cassie was attacked trying to get to is. We can just ask her where she was exploring when she was attacked and just find a way to push past the curses and find both objects."

Fabian nodded, clearly not liking the idea of pushing past curses. Well he wouldn't have to. Nina was not going to let him come. She didn't even like Eddie coming. He would have to now because he'd need to get the Ram of Mendes, but Nina still didn't like the idea. Not that she tended to like any of the ideas and plans she was forced to use, but still.

"Your destination is on the left," the GPS chirped out, and Nina studied the apartment complex they'd just pulled into. It looked like any other Liverpool apartment complex that a college student could afford to live in. It was drab, and a bit disgusting, and the dumpster needed to be empty. Eddie was grinning at it as if it was the sun.

Nina didn't really know why. She hadn't been particularly excited about speaking to Fabian at first, and she hadn't even had to tell him they were soul mates and she needed him to have a purpose in life. Nina would not want to have to convince the guy she'd hurt that they were destined. Eddie seemed thrilled to have the chance though.

But Nina guessed it made some sense. She and Eddie were opposites after all.


	22. Chapter 22

No excuses, just the update. Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 22

Eddie knew that he was being selfish and horrible. Here he was, bursting back into Patricia's life, begging for her help and forgiveness, and yet he was happy to do it. He was about to ask her to leave behind everything safe and sane for him, and he couldn't help but feel happy about it. Selfish indeed.

But there was a part of him that just didn't care. Patricia was his soulmate. The second they'd started to speak of Ren Eddie had realized that he knew Patricia's _that she knew his_ and that despite everything they were meant to be together. It was the happiest Eddie had felt in years. As angry as Patricia would undoubtedly be with him for ruining his life she would have to forgive him. They were destined.

Eddie had never felt glad to be cursed before.

He buzzed her apartment and got no response. For a terrifying moment he worried that she wasn't home, that he'd have to wait to see her. But finally her sweet and piercing voice called out through the intercom, "Hello. Who is it?"

Perhaps Eddie was tactless, but he was also missing a part of his soul, so he had some excuse for grinning and replying, "Hey Yacker, can I come in?"

The intercom was silent and Eddie cursed himself. Of course she was going to leave him out in the cold. They'd broken up over two years before and hadn't spoken since. He shouldn't have teased her right off the bat he should have…

The door to the apartment complex swung open a very annoyed young woman on the other side. In many ways she looked the same as she had two years before- that is to say beautiful-but in other ways she looked different. Her hair was its natural color, and her jeans weren't ripped. She looked, well more normal wasn't the word, but more relaxed. She wasn't trying so hard to be 'punk rock' and was just allowing herself to be. It was nice. (Not that Eddie was biased or anything).

"Two years! It took you two years and then you don't call, you don't text, you show up at my front door with… wait, Fabian? Nina!"

Fabian and Nina were standing a little ways away, but Patricia, upon seeing them, walked right past Eddie and hugged Nina. "You're even worse. Four years! It's been four years Nina and you never said a thing!"

"Sorry," Eddie heard Nina weakly mumble. "It was… it was complicated. The Chosen One stuff didn't end once I left Anubis House."

"Yeah yeah," Patricia huffed but Eddie could tell she secretly wanted to hug Nina again. "Make up all the excuses you want, I'm still gonna hold it against you. But back with Fabian. Wow. Didn't expect that."

Even from the distance Eddie noticed the redness of his friends' cheeks. "Ah well we're not together, together," Fabian stammered looking down at the pavement. "We're actually just both trying to help Eddie."

Patricia looked back at him now, and Eddie forced a meek smile. All he got in response was her rolling her eyes. (But at least she didn't hit him). "Yeah well he's great at getting himself in trouble. Come in. I'm sure Edison has some explaining to do."

Patricia's apartment wasn't as nice as Fabian's, but it was better than any of the hell-holes Eddie had picked out. The walls were a faded white, but not openly dirty, and the carpeted floor appeared to have been recently vacuumed. She obviously tried to keep the place in good condition, but even her rich parents weren't willing to give her a nice apartment.

Patricia offered Nina and Fabian beers, pointedly ignoring Eddie. Nina grabbed one and handed it over to Eddie with a sympathetic smile and Patricia rolled her eyes. "If this wasn't good beer I'd dump it all over both of you."

"Charming to the last," Eddie muttered before feeling stupid. He was supposed to be trying to win Patricia back! It was just so hard not to fall back into their easy pattern. Patricia had been the person Eddie had stuck with the longest after he fell off his cliff. In many ways it felt to him like it had only been days.

But it was clear that Patricia had felt the years. At Eddie's little comment she began flicking the wet rag she'd used to dry the beer bottles. Eddie was quickly soaked, and wiped the drops of water from his face, "I deserved that."

"Yeah, you did," Patricia told him a smirk on her face. Clearly she felt better having gotten her payback. Eddie would let her soak him all day just to see that smile of hers. "You don't look high. When was the last time you had something?"

Eddie winced. She'd always made him feel worse about the drugs than he'd felt before the drugs took the edge off. "Got locked out of my apartment last Sunday and was high then, but that would be the last time."

"Coke?"

"Heroine."

Patricia shook her head, "Glad to know you've raised your standards….Why the fuck are you here Eddie? Why are all of you here?"

Nina looked ready to explain, but Eddie couldn't let her. It was his screw ups that had led them hear. It was him who owed Patricia and explanation. "It started when I died. You noticed it a few weeks later, so you never made the connection, but when the Osirian spirit died it sort of… it broke me. Apparently I literally had lost my purpose in life. Being with you made it hurt less, but after a while, whenever you went away, I started to lose it. You remember. I started with booze, then it was pot, and when that stopped working I found coke. You broke up with me because you had to. As you told me I was 'ruining my life' and you weren't going 'to just sit there and watch'. Once you were gone I had no reason to ever do anything. I dropped out of school, started stealing from my dad, failed to hold a job, and spent my time drunk or high. Whenever I got used to one I'd find something else. It's a miracle I never got addicted. Then again I'm so screwed up I can't even do drugs right, so what does that say about me?

"Then last week I hit rock bottom and got the stupid ass idea to show up at Fabian's school begging for a place to crash. I was seriously high and it didn't even cross my mind that he had no reason to give a damn. But he did, and then Nina happened to be studying abroad at Fabian's school and she got involved. She's the one who figured out that I literally was just hopeless without the Osirian spirit. So we've been trying to find a way to get me the Osirian spirit back. Hell I even made up with my dad, we'll see how long that lasts. But now I need you. And I know it's not fair, I know it's not even right, but I'm glad that I need you because I've always needed you. There is this Ram of Mendes that holds the Osirian spirit, and it can fix me, but its needs to be spoken to by the person who knows my Ren, my secret name… my soulmate-you. I know this is a lot to take in and it doesn't even mean you have to forgive me, but just help me."

Patricia took a long sip of her beer and turned to Fabian and Nina. "You two have been with him right? Are you sure he's not high?"

Fabian laughed at the suggestion, but nodded anyways. "He's barely been out of my sight. Sober as a clam. It was actually Mr. Sweet who said Eddie had to figure out his soulmate. That man knows a lot more than he let on."

"And you really think that soulmate is me? You really think I somehow know your secret name? Eddie this is ridiculous."

Perhaps it was ridiculous, but that was how Eddie could tell it was true. He knew Patricia was his soulmate. He knew she knew his secret name. He knew this because he knew her, he knew her in the deepest sense.

"I can prove it to you," Eddie admitted getting up and moving next to her. She got up and moved away, but Eddie grabbed her wrist and leaned in close. The smell of her hair overwhelmed him, but he whispered her true name in her ear.

Patricia stood staring at him for a moment and Eddie worried she was terrified. All of a sudden something switched in her gaze and without warning she wrapped her arms around Eddie's back and pulled him into a tight kiss.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Fabian fell back onto the bed exhausted. They'd spent the whole ride back to school trying to catch Patricia up, and Fabian was amazed how easily she feel right back into things. She'd changed a lot, probably more than any of them, but all of those changes seemed insignificant as they explained to her the situation and she fell right back into Sibuna mode.

And so they were all back together, the main crew, doing what they did best. They'd come up with a plan for tackling their mission, and that plan included Fabian doing nothing.

He felt useless. Nina was the only one who had a chance at getting past the traps, so she was going. Eddie needed to get to the Ram, so he was going. Patricia needed to be with Eddie when he got to the Ram, so she was going. Fabian needed to help his best friends finish their mission, and he wasn't going

Nina had forbidden it, and Eddie had seconded it. Fabian knew they were just trying to protect him, but it still stung. Yes all of them had to go down, and, technically, Fabian didn't have to go with them, but what they didn't seem to understand is that he did have to go with them. He had to go and help his friends, help Nina. He couldn't bear the thought of just waiting with the kids of new Sibuna. They were kids! They were four years younger than him, really and truly kids, and Nina had taken it out of their hands because they couldn't deal with it. Saying that he needed to stay behind, that he couldn't deal with it… it was infuriating! How many times had he done things that were not only dangerous but stupid? Dozens surely! Every mess, every challenge, ever trap- he walked right into it without blinking. He'd walk into the Afterlife. He'd face down Ammut the Devourer-again-for his friends! And yet they just wanted to leave him behind because he 'wasn't needed' and they just 'wanted to keep him safe.'

"You're really bent out of shape over not coming down with us, aren't you," Eddie asked, a little grin on his face. Fabian was actually surprised to see Eddie had made his way back to their shared room so quickly. Nina had had some errand to run which meant Patricia had the guest room to herself for a while. Fabian had predicted that Eddie and Patricia would have some…catching up to do. They'd seemed to fall back into place with each other perfectly. _If only Nina and I could too._

"What, you're leaving Patricia alone?" Fabian teased, easily deflecting Eddie's question.

Eddie just hit Fabian with a pillow and jumped into bed. Fabian couldn't help but wonder if they really needed to get this Ram of Mendes. Besides his little break-down the day before Eddie did seem so much better. It was probably just an act though. Fabian knew a thing or two about acting okay.

"Dude," Eddie chuckled. "You do realize that this is my dad's house, right?"

Fabian had actually kind of forgotten, but he chuckled a little bit at the thought of Mr. Sweet sitting at the kitchen table and hearing some strange squeaking from the guest bedroom. "Oh, right."

"Yeah… So why are you so upset about not being allowed to come with us?" Eddie obviously was not going to be distracted. "Because you do get that I wouldn't let Patricia or Nina anywhere near there if I had a choice."

Fabian did know that, but it didn't make it any easier to stomach. "I just feel like I need to go. We're a team. We've always been a team. You never know what you'll need me for and if I'm not there…"

"We'll be fine. Nina knows what she's doing. We'll be perfectly safe."

Fabian sighed, "If you'll be perfectly safe then why can't I come?"

Eddie didn't even grant that a response. For a minute there was silence as Eddie went into the bathroom to change, but when he came back he lingered in the doorway giving Fabian an odd look. "What is it?"

"There is something else bothering you too, isn't there? Something that has been bothering you since before we even went and got Patricia."

Fabian felt his heart slow to a stop. He'd never planned on admitting it to himself, never mind Eddie. Should he lie? Should he just tell Eddie that he was going insane?

No, Fabian couldn't do that, not to Eddie. "I… I realized earlier that I don't know Nina's secret name. I've been trying to find some way to make it work between the two of us, but it never will. We're not meant to be."

Silence, then suddenly Eddie started to laugh. At first it was a low chuckle, but soon enough it grew into a hearty laugh that shook the whole bed. Fabian was mortified. Here he'd confessed his darkest fear to his best friend, and Eddie had just laughed.

"I'm sorry," Eddie finally managed to chuckle out. "It's just… of course you don't know Nina's secret name! I know her name. I'm sure Anubis does too, but you?"

Fabian flushed bright red, and he was really glad that the lights were off. "You know her secret name? So you and Nina are… but what about Patricia?" Fabian had a terrifying vision of the three of them living together in some strange sister-wives...

Eddie stopped laughing. "Shit, Fabian no, not like that. I know Nina's secret name because of the Osirian thing. I used it when I saved her from Senkarah and I still know it. Nina is special, and she's powerful. Her secret name is more than just a representation of her, it's a representation of the whole Chosen One line. No mortal would be given that kind of power. She doesn't have a destined love, a soulmate. She gets a choice in the matter. Love is probably the only part of her life that isn't mapped out for her from the beginning."

Fabian felt very, very stupid. He'd forgotten the story of Isis using Ra's secret name to make him give up the throne to Horus. The secret name of the Chosen One in the wrong hands… it could be catastrophic. It made sense that only someone programmed to never do anything that could harm the Chosen One would know it.

But Nina had a choice, and Fabian had a choice. He could choose to fight for her, even sometimes fight her, and sooner or later she'd have to choose him or not. One way or another Fabian had to make his choice and she'd have to deal with hers.

And Fabian was decided. If Nina wanted to keep him from following her tomorrow she had to knock him out and lock him up. That would be her choice. Fabian had made his.


	24. Chapter 24

I had not planned on updating today, but my daughter, Gryffindork, amused me enough for it to happen. Also, side note, to the guest who wanted to know how my exams went-Great! I got straight A+ and now will graduate second in my class!

* * *

Chapter 24

Nina would have been annoyed with Anubis one way or another, but she was furious that he made her wait.

It hadn't taken long for her to decide on which graveyard to wait in. For one, it was the closest graveyard to Anubis House, and the only one in Liverpool that Nina knew. But it was more than that. Nina needed to go and visit Sarah for the first time since discovering their connection. Nina had never understood Sarah's message while her great-grandmother was alive, but her loss had hurt. Even if they'd never been able to have a coherent conversation they'd been close. Sarah reminded Nina of her Gramp. Nina was thirteen when her Gramp died, but she remembered him well. Of course Sarah had reminded Nina of her Gram in some ways, but she'd truly been like Gramp. Now that Nina knew why, it made a lot of sense. Her Gramp used to talk a lot about his mother. She'd 'died' while traveling to London, her ship sunk by Nazis.

Nina didn't have to wonder why Sarah let her young son believe she was dead. He'd gone off to a boarding school and spent summers at a Catholic Orphanage. He'd been lonely, and he'd been safe. He's never known ghosts were real. He'd never had to break a curse. The only god he knew of was the one the nuns taught him about. A God of love, of charity, of goodness and hope. Not gods who'd curse him, who'd kidnap him, who'd hurt him to get to his mother. Sarah had left her son, and he'd lived a good life. He'd been curse, the whole line was to one extent or another, but he'd never known about that curse. He'd never felt its weight.

He'd been happy and he'd been safe- Nina would probably make the same choice. Not that she'd ever worry about it. She never planned on having children. It wouldn't be fair to them, and it certainly wouldn't be fair to whatever father they may have…

 _Stop thinking about Fabian, Nina. Think about how you're annoyed at Anubis._

Right. Anubis. She was furious at him for a number of reasons, but the primary one, at the moment at least, had to do with him being an hour late for the meeting that _he_ called.

"Chosen One."

Nina rolled her eyes at him. He was dressed in an almost regal style, the kind of style he wore about three years ago before he realized that it just made him look stupid. He hadn't fallen back into the old 'I'm the great god of death thing and your master, respect me' for months, so Nina knew she must have really pissed him off this time.

Good- he'd really pissed her off this time as well.

"Oh great Anubis, you bless me with your presence!" Nina praised, a wry grin on her face. "Even though you're an hour late."

"I am a god," Anubis reminded Nina, clearly not amused by her lack of reverence. "I am busy. You should be grateful that I take the time to do anything for you. I only called you here because I have something for you."

Anubis revealed an old chest, probably only a foot in diameter, with an intricate carving on the outside. It was a little faded, but after a second Nina could see the outline of a sort of serpent with winged arms. It looked vaguely human too, so Nina assumed it was the image of some god. Not a main one though because Nina hadn't a clue who it was supposed to be. Not even when Anubis opened the box and Nina found three silver amulets with the same image on it. These images were colored though. The snake was a dark green, almost glistening, and the feathers donned a rainbow of colors. The amulets were absolutely beautiful, more like an intricate piece of jewelry than a symbol of protection.

Anubis slammed the box shut, almost closing Nina's hand inside. "You've been so distracted that you completely forgot about Wadjet's gift, didn't you?"

"That… that is completely ridiculous!" Nina could not believe that Anubis was being so rude. Comparatively he was the one in the wrong! "You mentioned it like once a week ago, and yeah, I've been busy helping someone overcome an Egyptian curse, which is, for the record, basically my job description."

"Eddie was never your responsibility, but that's not the problem. I am your patron. You are MY servant! And yet you have now disobeyed my explicit directive not to return to England, and set out on a quest without my permission. Your bleeding heart has now led you down a path that will lead to global destruction."

What the Hell was he even talking about? "Is that why you're giving me the cold shoulder? Well newsflash, I don't even know what you're talking about. I'm trying to get Eddie the Osirian spirit back, something even you said might not be a bad thing!"

"Don't act so innocent, if you don't know what I'm talking about it's because you've been too wrapped up in your emotions to notice to the clues. I have no problem with you returning the Osirian spirit to Eddie, but you cannot go to the Ram of Mendes. Robert Frobisher-Smythe already told you this. There is something else hidden there that is far too dangerous to uncover. The sanity of the former Osirian is nothing compared to this danger. His sacrifice and suffering is necessary to preserve Ma'at."

Nina heard his words, and on one level they made her stop. Unfortunately, the reminder of the other thing hidden with the Ram brought to the forefront why Nina was pissed at Anubis. "Oh you mean this something which you have a sixteen year old girl currently protecting? What the Hell is up with that Anubis? You made a second Chosen One? All those times you apologized for my curse and you brought it upon someone else?"

"Please, don't be ridiculous," Anubis didn't even seem fazed by Nina's fury, which only angered her more. How could he just be so calm about everything and make her seem like the idiot? "Cassandra is not a second Chosen One. She has a fraction of your power, barely enough to make the necklace work, and it will fade once she leaves Anubis House. I needed someone to protect the items hidden at Anubis House, and you had more important duties."

"You know Cassie having less power than me makes it worse, not better. You left her to face the kind of situations that almost killed me, without even giving her the skills to succeed. She almost got killed over whatever is hiding with the Ram!"

"All the more reason for you to leave it be! Robert was an idiot, but he was wise to put protections around it. You can undo those protections, I do not doubt it, but if you do then what is hidden there will be vulnerable. It cannot fall into the wrong hands."

"What is hidden there? What is so dangerous? Tell me what it is and why it's safer hidden there than with me, and I'll leave it be. I'll let me best friend die of misery if you can convince me the balance of the universe depends on it. What is hidden there?"

Nina was calling Anubis's bluff. Either it was truly important, in which case he'd bend and tell Nina, or it wasn't end-of-the-world important and he'd keep silent.

"I cannot tell you, but you must listen to me Nina. I can force you to do as I say. I know your Ren, you are my servant. Don't make me be have to control you. Just trust me, for once."

Nina's heart pounded against her chest. Anubis had threatened to force her to do something before, but only once before. It had been in the beginning of their relationship, back when Nina thought ignoring her fate meant it would go away. He'd threatened to force her to talk to the god Thoth if she wouldn't do it willingly, and so she'd accepted her fate. Nina hadn't imagined he'd ever pull the 'I am the god here' card again.

"If I don't do this then I lose Eddie. If you force me not to do it, then you lose me. If it's important enough that I should lose Eddie then it's important enough for you to lose me. Since you won't tell me what it is, then it's up to you to decide whether or not it's that important. Goodnight Anubis," Nina told him, her voice flat. Anubis looked hurt, and more than a little angry, but Nina kept from shaking as she grabbed the box of amulets and stalked out of the graveyard, forgetting to even say goodbye to Sarah before she did.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Eddie felt odd the next morning.

He was the last one up, and everyone else was in the kitchen eating by the time he climbed out of bed. His father looked perfectly normal, sitting in his chair with the newspaper, but that was what made everything so odd. He sat there looking so normal, and yet next to him was Patricia looking radiant at ever and perfectly content with her eggs. And then Fabian looked like he was prepping to fight someone, gods know who, and Nina looked like she had fought someone, or at least not slept. It was just… it was just so odd.

But Eddie found the oddness reassuring. Perhaps they were an odd bunch, but they were his odd bunch. They were the only people who really mattered to him, and the only people who he still mattered to. "So, you have any sort of plan?" he asked Nina, sliding into the seat between her and Patricia.

"The three of us go down, I disable any curses or wards, no offense to Robert but I can guarantee that whatever he hastily pulled up is nothing compared to what I've faced. Once I've broken through the wards I take this other thing everyone is so scared of, you two do your thing with the Ram," Nina answered with a shrug. It surprised Eddie how calm she was about everything, but he knew she'd certainly been in a lot of dangerous situations over the past four years. He'd just been so focused on himself that he hadn't had time to ask her about it. That would change. One day more and then Eddie would be back to normal and he'd find a way to help Nina and understand what she'd been through. Just a little more time and they'd be okay.

"The four of us are going down," Fabian said, a stern look in his eyes. Nina got ready to fight, and Eddie seemed prepared to argue as well, but their nerdy friend actually took a stand and spoke for himself. "No. I know you want to protect me, but I am an adult, and I get to make my own decision. You've explained to me the dangers, and now it's my choice. I appreciate you caring, but wanting to protect someone doesn't give you the right to control me. You don't just get to decide you know what is best; I get to make my own decisions. I am coming."

Eddie was shocked. He'd seen Fabian take a stand before, but never for himself. Usually the only thing that could drive this kind of intensity within Fabian would be someone threatening one of Fabian's friends. He never tended to stand up for himself, so this was something new.

"Well I think he's alright," Patricia told Fabian with a nod. "You two have left us behind for long enough. We all joined Sibuna. This is all of our fight. You don't get to make the decisions about what's 'too dangerous' anymore.

Nina's eyes flashed towards Eddie, and they carried on a silent conversation. On one hand Eddie's protective nature said that in no-way-shape-or-form should Fabian be allowed to come. He didn't like Patricia coming and she had to. Fabian had no place to be there and it was ridiculous that he request to be allowed to come into something so dangerous. Fabian being there didn't just affect him; it made them all more vulnerable.

But Eddie also got it. He remembered those first few months when Patricia and the others had constantly run off and he was left behind. He remembered watching from behind the bell jar of his issues as everyone else moved on and grew up while he was still stuck in high school, the only time he'd ever been okay. Eddie knew what it was like to be left behind 'for your safety'. Wasn't that what his father had done to him? What did give him or Nina or anyone the right to tell Fabian what was and what wasn't worth the risk of his life?

All this Eddie communicated to Nina, and she nodded in understanding. She knew the same feeling, had had the same thoughts. They didn't need to have mystical spirits pulling them together to get each other. On a certain level they were still bonded.

"Okay," Nina agreed with a long sigh. Her shoulders shook a little bit, and Eddie noticed her nails seemed to be making her palm bleed, but she released her breath and agreed. "But you have to wear one of these protection amulets." Eddie hadn't noticed the box sitting in Nina's lap, but she placed it on the table, Eddie noticed even his father was looking at it with awe (even if he was pretending to be oblivious to the conversation before him).

Eddie picked up one of the amulets and felt its power instantly. It was like being shocked by a hundred volts of electricity, and yet also like falling into a hot bath at the end of a difficult day. There was something wholly safe about the aura emitting from the amulet, which, when Eddie thought about it, sort of made sense. "There are only three, if we all take one what about you?"

Nina smiled softly at Eddie, and shook her head, her lips moving so quickly it seemed as if she had known his question before he'd asked it. "I'm the Chosen One, amulets like this don't work on me. I have my own power that interferes with them. I don't know if it will even keep working once you get your power back, but one way or another keep it. These come from Wadjet, the protection goddess herself. They should keep you safe from any curse that gets past me, and from anything if… if in the future I'm not there to help."

Eddie watched Nina, trying to figure out what was wrong. There was something about the way she was speaking that worried him. Either she was lying, and the amulet would work for her but she wanted Fabian to have it, or there was something else. The idea of there being something else, however, bothered Eddie as much as, if not more than, the idea of her lying about being okay.

"Are you going to owe Wadjet for these?" Fabian asked, his fingers running over the design before he pulled the amulet on.

Nina's smile was far brighter this time, and it made Eddie feel a little bit better. "Of course, but Wadjet did offer them as a gift, so what I'll owe her won't be too bad. Some of the minor gods are just glad that I know of their existence and will offer me favors for acknowledgement. I guess the thanks of the Chosen One is as close as they get to worship these days."

That sounded like a pretty sad existence to Eddie, and yet he didn't feel that bad. He certainly wasn't versed on myths the way Nina or Fabian were, but his general understanding was that gods were not generally kind or selfless, so they probably deserved whatever bad karma they had.

(Was it sacrilegious to mix karma and Egyptian gods? Eddie wasn't sure.)

"I got up first thing and asked Cassie where she'd been exploring when she was attacked," Nina explained surprising Eddie. It was still early, and for Nina to have already gone over to Anubis House and back meant she really hadn't slept. Poor Cassie too. Most teenagers wanted to sleep in on Sunday mornings. "So whenever you're done eating we can head down into the tunnels through the library and head out."

All of a sudden none of them had very much of an appetite.


	26. Chapter 26

I hope everyone is enjoying. Funny enough my laptop broke so I'm writing on my old laptop, and I'm actually really preferring this old laptop. The ironic bit is that it's what I wrote all my old HOA fanfic on, and it literally feels easier to write on this laptop, like the ideas flow better. Or perhaps I'm just insane.

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 26

Nina used her necklace to open the tunnels from the place in the library, but how she'd been able to pick the lock on the library door, Fabian didn't want to know. It had taken her barely thirty seconds to let them into the library which had, once again, fallen into disuse.

That made Fabian quite sad; he hated the idea of a library with books unread.

The library also reminded Fabian of the pathetic dance they'd once had in there, and how much he'd messed up his relationship with Nina that night. He was not about to make that mistake again. He was here, plunging down into the tunnels one last time, and yet doing so without the weight of his past. If asked, Fabian probably would have said his heart was light enough to go up against the feather of truth.

The tunnels look darker to Fabian, but perhaps he was just no longer use to darkness. He recognized the chamber of Anubis, and that cursed board game, but it didn't do anything to them this time. It was inactive, the Mask of Anubis hidden somewhere else.

"Hey Nina, any idea where the Mask or the Cup are?"

Nina seemed surprised that Fabian had spoken. They'd been traveling in a solemn silence, one that Patricia and Eddie were making fun of (but only when they thought Fabian and Nina weren't paying attention).

"They're in the attic. You know I actually have no idea how the Mask ended up back at school. I'd put it with that traveling exhibition. I should probably ask Cassie about that."

Fabian thought that was probably a good idea.

Nina stopped in the middle of the Senet board, almost causing Fabian to ram into her. She dropped to the ground, running her hand along one of the danger squares. Her eyes were closed, and even Eddie and Patricia were waiting expectantly for something to happen. None of them could have predicted exactly what would, however.

Once Nina felt whatever she'd been looking for, her eyes flashed open and she pressed her hand into the ground. Red light, much like the one from Nina's locket, flooded out of her hands, and into the tiles. It spread, swirling beyond Nina and towards where Fabian and the others stood. A twinge of fear hit Fabian as he noticed the tile he stood on glow red, but nothing happened. The image spread, forming into the Eye of Horus, and part of the wall to the side just seemed to disappear into nothingness.

Nina stood.

"Um Nina," Patricia stammered looking at her friend with a little bit of fear. "How did you do that?"

"I've learned a thing or two about magic over the years," Nina answered with a shrug. She seemed surprised that they were just staring at her; obviously she'd forgotten that what she could do was not normal what-so-ever.

It most certainly was not, however, and even Eddie, who'd done some strange things, could hardly believe it, "You're telling me Cassie can do that?"

Nina laughed, and Fabian's fear dissipated. She was still Nina, and her laugh was like hot chocolate warming you from the inside. "Of course Cassie can't do that," Nina answered. "If Cassie could do that I would have Anubis's head. No she came in a different way, sort of forcing herself through. This way is much less dangerous, because it figures that only someone who is supposed to be here can get past that first test. It's smart actually because Robert himself would never be able to get back down there if he was to change his mind and want the power behind whatever is hidden."

"What makes you think whatever is down there is powerful?"

Nina gave Fabian a look, "It's dangerous. The only thing that is dangerous is power."

It made sense to Fabian, and he pushed past Nina to step through the new door. The tunnels on the other side looked similar, but they were even more dusty than normal, and Fabian coughed. "Someone needs to get a swifter duster in here."

Nina chuckled, and led the way down the corridor. It was eerily silent, and yet the silence was not oppressing, in fact it made Fabian feel brave. "Nina, how does magic exist?"

"How does air exist? Or the trees? Or love. Or life. Of death? The gods are real, but they don't control the universe. They manipulate it, and I have the power to do that as well, but they don't control anything. Ma'at controls everything, and yet sometimes I wonder if that doesn't mean that Ma'at, the fount from which all things come, the balance of peace and chaos, is not the same force that others refer to as God with a capital G. There are just some things out there that deny our rational understanding, and that's good. I don't think there is anything more arrogant than thinking that we could ever truly understand."

Fabian was taken aback by her words. Surely that couldn't be right? Fabian had devoted his whole life to trying to explain the world through logic. He understood physics and chemistry. He traced the development of society, or culture, of human nature. Fabian had built his life on rationalism even after he first touched magic. In a way he'd always expected that there had to be some scientific explanation to the magic itself.

Now Nina said there was none, that there didn't have to be, and Fabian wasn't quite sure what to do.

Well, he wasn't sure what to do except follow Nina.

At one point while they were walking, Fabian noticed that Nina's fingers were twitching and twirling by her side, red light streaming from them. "Nina?" Fabian asked coming to a stop. "Are you fighting curses as we walk?" She didn't say anything, which Fabian took as a yes. "Nina, how powerful are you?"

"I don't know," she admitted with a sad smile. "But more powerful than I should be I think. As I said-the only thing that is dangerous is power."


	27. Chapter 27

Did someone request Peddie?

* * *

Chapter 27

Everything was going far too smoothly; Eddie should have known that something was about to go wrong.

Nina was scaring him, and Eddie was ashamed of it. Nina was his friend, his destiny. Patricia was his soul mate, but Nina… Nina was his Chosen One. He should have been able to stand by her no matter what.

But she was scaring him. As they walked silently through the corridors, she seemed covered in red light. Eddie could sort of sense the curses, but Nina seemed to disable everything before Eddie even recognized it was there. Eddie didn't know for sure, of course, but he figured that they could take their protection amulets off and be perfectly fine.

And that scared Eddie. Nina should not be so used to the kind of incredible power she held. Moreover, Nina had struggled. She hadn't spoken a lot about her recent past, but Eddie could tell that she'd struggled. She'd faced things that she almost hadn't been able to beat, and there had been times she'd stopped the bad guy, but that she hadn't won. That meant that there were powers out there even stronger, even more frightening, than Nina.

And that scared the shit out of Eddie.

He tried not to think about it, but it scared him. He was back with Patricia, presumably for life, but what kind of life would that be? He was trying to fix himself, and yet he was about to bring a world of danger down on those he loved. The idea of Patricia in danger terrified him. Eddie wanted to give her a good safe life, but he couldn't, and that scared him.

So Eddie did what he always did when scared- he made a joke. "You know what I miss, a good old booby trap. None of these 'curses', I want a good, old fashioned, Frobisher-Smythe, booby trap.

Eddie's gravestone would probably read: **He made a joke and died.**

The second the words reached Eddie's teeth, Patricia stepped on a stone that was shaped just a little differently from the rest, and found herself falling straight through the floor. Without even thinking Eddie rushed after her, and the other stones, loose from the missing piece, crumbled under him like a falling Jenga board. The last thing he saw before plummeting straight down was the sight of Fabian pulling Nina out of the way before she fell too.

Eddie wondered if he was going to die when he reached the ground. He was a college drop-out and all, so he didn't have a clue how many stories it took to die when you fall. He knew that it probably depended on what you were falling onto and how you landed, but he had no clue what it would take to kill him. He felt as if he'd been falling forever, however, so he assumed that his life would end when the falling stopped.

Eddie was perfectly fine with being dead; he had been for months. The only thing that bothered him was the fact that Patricia had fallen as well, which meant he would, if only for a few seconds, have to live in a world without her.

Splat- Eddie landed arms and legs sprawled, on some sort of hay. It was prickly and drew long, painful scratches down his legs. The pain was good, however, because it meant Eddie was alive. If he was alive then…

Patricia lie about a foot away, cursing under her breathe and trying to get the hay out of her hair. She looked unharmed, even having fewer scratches than Eddie, so he breathed a sigh of relief.

"You just had to ask for a booby-trap, didn't you?"

"Hey, my jokes may be the death of me, but your sarcasm won't get you anywhere," Eddie told her, but he couldn't hide the grin. Being together, joking, teasing, it made Eddie glad for their disastrous fall.

Eddie stood up, and helped Patricia do so. As they rose, Eddie caught sight of the gold words on the back wall- _If you wish to get out of this hay; Cleopatra's Needle will show you the way._

Patricia groaned. "A needle in a haystack. We're literally looking for a needle in a haystack."

So it seemed. Apparently if they wanted to get back to the others and the Ram of Mendes they literally needed to accomplish the proverbial impossibility. "Think on the bright side, it's better than looking for an amulet in a manure pile."

Patricia's glare told Eddie that she did not really consider that a bright side, "Just get digging, Slimeball."

The silence stretched as they searched for the needle, but there is a reason people use the metaphor. The search was painful, and Eddie wondered if they were about to die down there.

"I'm really glad you showed up on my door," Patricia muttered, and Eddie thought for a second he was hearing things. Patricia being vulnerable? They'd talked a little the night before, but mostly it had been Eddie promising that the days of drugs and being numb to life were over. They'd broken up because Patricia couldn't stand to see him throw his life away, and Eddie promised he wouldn't do that anymore. Beyond that they hadn't really done more than make out.

Not that Eddie was complaining.

But that meant it was all the more surprising that Patricia seemed to want to talk about her feelings now while they were trying to figure something out that might save their lives.

"I'm glad you opened the door. I really am sorry about how things ended. I wasn't… I wasn't myself those last few months."

Patricia nodded, and Eddie found himself no longer looking or the needle and instead looking at Patricia. She was so beautiful, and seeing her covered in hay and dust didn't change that one bit. He couldn't believe how beautiful she'd gotten over the past few years. She looked so natural, and she was acting it too. The spitfire he loved was still there, sure, but so was the confident woman he always needed.

"It's strange, because as angry as your behavior made me, I still loved you then. I…I had to go. I thought it would force you to get your life on track, but I hated doing it. I still loved you. I never stopped loving you. Every guy I dated after you-they all sucked. None of them were you. I don't think I went on more than two dates with anyone these past three years. I could tell they weren't you… I guess the whole soulmate thing explains that."

Eddie grinned. Perhaps it was stupid and selfish but he loved the idea of Patricia being his soulmate. "That doesn't bother you, right? I know you're not super into gushy stuff like that."

"I think I sort of like it, but don't ever tell anyone," Patricia answered with a scowl, but Eddie could see the grin in her eyes. "Get back to looking."

"I feel like we're just not going to find it. I swear we have to have combed through this whole thing!" Eddie was pissed off, though on some level spending the rest of his life with Patricia didn't sound too bad.

Though they would get to do that one way or another, so Eddie wanted the rest of his life to be a long time. "This doesn't seem right? It's supposed to be a riddle, not some impossible task!"

Patricia's head moved so far Eddie worried she was going to give herself whiplash. "Wait. We need to think like Nina. What if this," she motioned to the haystack, "Is a distraction? Is there any other sort of Egyptian needle? And what makes it Cleopatra's needle?"

Eddie hadn't really thought that much about that part of the riddle. Were there other types of needles? Why did Cleopatra's needle sound so familiar?

"London! Cleopatra's needle is that big monument in London! We're not looking for a sewing needle; we're looking for an Obelisk!"

Patricia looked around, and found a large obelisk on the opposite wall from the riddle. "I hate the Frobisher-Smythes," she muttered, pressing it in and revealing a door.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Nina jumped a foot when she heard a wall moving and then Eddie and Patricia just appeared. She'd been searching for what felt like ages to free them, and then, all of a sudden, they were just there.

"Sorry about that," Eddie told her, a sly little grin on his face. "Where were we again?"

"Sorry?" Fabian repeated, sounding completely horrified at Eddie's nonchalance. Nina couldn't blame him either. He'd been freaking out since they disappeared, and them just showing up al fine and good… it was actually kind of annoying.

Not that Nina wasn't grateful or anything; she was. She was undoubtedly glad that they were safe, but it was just a little annoying how casual they all were about it. That was all.

"What happened?" Nina asked, moving to study them. They both seemed unharmed, mostly, though closer examination revealed they were all scratched up by something, and thin trails of blood streaked from some of the deeper scratches. All and all they were okay though.

"There was a trap door, I sprung it," Eddie answered with a shrug. "Then we found a needle in the hay stack by pretending we were giant nerds like you two, and now we got out of there. Can we keep moving? I'm starting to get hungry and would love to celebrate getting my soul back."

Nina smiled and laughed along with Fabian, but Eddie's words made her heart drop. She still hadn't told them that she had to disappear before Eddie got his spirit back. They would undoubtedly, and rightfully, celebrate Eddie's recovery, but Nina wouldn't be there. Nina would probably be crying on a plane back to America.

But it would be okay because Eddie would be better. Everything in Nina's life had some purpose, and the purpose of her coming back to England was to help Eddie. She understood that, and she was proud of it.

Even if doing so hurt her deeply.

They began walking again, and Nina had to concentrate on none of the remaining curses attacking them. Sure the others had amulets which should protect them, but Nina didn't want to risk it. Wadjet seemed like a relatively chill goddess, but Nina didn't really trust anyone with her friends' lives.

So she focused on sensing the magic around her and unraveling it. It surprised her just how many curses and spells there were, and they just multiplied the further down the tunnel they watched. Robert had really wanted to keep people out, and he'd had a surprising number of godly allies in doing so. A truly surprising number of godly allies. None of them seemed particularly powerful though. Sure Nina knew she was pretty powerful. From what she understood her magic was actually just Anubis's magic that she could access, and Anubis was obviously powerful. Still, Nina had never imagined herself to be more powerful than so many minor gods. It made Nina wonder really if she wasn't a god of sorts herself.

And being a goddess did not sound like fun to Nina.

But Nina was glad that she had the power to unravel curses as they moved forward. She was glad that she had the power to protect those she loved. Who didn't want the power to protect those they love?

"The Ram and the other thing we're looking for is up ahead," Nina declared pulling to a stop. She could feel their radiating power in the room before them. All the other curses combined paled in comparison to what Robert had wished them to hide. And then there was the Ram. Nina could feel the Osirian spirit within it, calling to her, and yet, at the same time, screaming for her to leave, to escape and save them both from a terrible fate.

 _Don't worry. I will leave._

"Cool then, let's go," Eddie told Nina, the smile across his face brighter than a dozen suns. Nina could almost imagine that he didn't even need the Ram. It was… it was like in English class. Eddie had learned through his quest that all he needed for fulfillment was love and friendship. But life wasn't like a book, and love most certainly wasn't like the pathetic explanations English teachers gave for books.

"Wait," Nina told him, grabbing his hand to keep him from walking past her. "There's something I need to tell you. To tell all of you. I thought Eddie would have figured it out but… but he hasn't. Eddie, Osirian told you about the new curse Rufus brought, didn't he?" Eddie seemed confused, almost as if he'd forgotten the conversation, but then his light eyes grew dark, and he nodded slowly.

"When Rufus tried to become a god, he broke one of the rules of the Osirian," Nina explained slowly. She decided to look at Patricia while explaining. It was far easier than looking at Fabian. Nina couldn't bare the thought of having to look Fabian in the eye as she explained. "The Osirian line received a new curse. They could not be near their Chosen One. They would have to be far enough away that they could not protect their Chosen One. That way, when their Chosen One died, they'd suffer the pain of having failed in their destiny."

Everyone stood in silence for a moment, and Nina found that even looking at Patricia was too difficult. Hell, even looking at the floor was too difficult. The feelings of loss and betrayal practically screamed, filling the room with their cries of anguish. Everyone was silent, and yet Nina still felt the pain.

"You're leaving then?" Eddie was the one to speak first, his voice cracking halfway through the sentence. Nina nodded, still unable to look any of them in the eye, but knowing that it was what she had to do for Eddie's sake. "This is ridiculous. Why can't you just go back to London and I stay here? Why can't we just… why can't we just fight this thing?"

Nina couldn't help herself; she braved a look at Eddie. He was utterly devastated, that was for sure, and it broke Nina's heart. "We can't fight this no more than we can fight our destinies. It just is. And maybe I could go back to London, and you could stay here, but I don't know. I don't know how far away I have to be for you to be safe. And if you ever came to London and we ran into each other? You would die. You would do more than die. I need to disappear, make it impossible for you to ever find me. It's the only way. And I'm okay with it. The three of you… you'll have each other. But this means I need to walk in there and get the other thing, and then I need to leave. You should probably give me a few hours head start- I'm sorry I know you're hungry- just sit down here for a few hours so I can get to the airport and find whatever plane is going far away from here. Then Eddie and Patricia just need to touch the Ram while Patricia says Eddie's secret name. I need you guys not to fight me on this. I've made my choice. And I choose to leave."

None of them seemed happy with it, but it did seem pretty clear that they had no other choice. No one wanted to see Eddie dead after all.

"We'll keep looking," Patricia offered, pulling Nina in for a comforting hug. "We'll find something, some loophole, and they you can come back."

Nina looked at Eddie. He didn't say anything, but he nodded, clearly understanding that Nina was right in this decision.

All that was left was for Nina to hear what Fabian had to say, and so she snuck a look. His face as bunched up into something that tore Nina's heart from her chest, and it got worse when he whispered, "I'll come with you. Wherever you go, I'll come. I get now why you've refused to get back together but it doesn't matter! I can just come with you Nina!"

Hope was a dangerous thing. It toppled dictators and tyranny. Rebellions, after all, were built on hope.

But hope was also dangerous for people. It wanted to settle in Nina's chest, to blossom into something. And she couldn't let it do so. Nina didn't want this hope. It only made everything that much more painful. "No. No you can't. You need to go back to school. You have classes tomorrow. You need to graduate. Maybe then…" Nina couldn't even say it. "You can't come. I won't let you throw your life away for me. I would never be happy knowing that I prevented you from fulfilling your potential. Doing so would just be a crime."

Fabian seemed shocked to even remember that he was still in school, all the more reason for Nina to say he should not be coming with her. He got stupid around her. He forgot about life, and in her line of work that was a dangerous thing. His naivety would get him killed.

"Alright then, we're agreed. I'm going to go in and figure out what all these curses were protecting, and then I'm go and hide it from whoever was willing to kill Cassie for it."

Nina spun on her heels and entered the chamber. It was pretty sparse; clearly no one had thought much about its items in the beginning. The Ram of Mendes was pretty obvious- Nina didn't imagine that the golden ram statue the size of her could be anything else- but it took her a moment to figure out what all the fuss was about.

It turned out that the only other thing in the chamber was a silver rod. It was ornate of sorts, but definitely not the most impressive thing Nina had ever seen. The moment she picked it up she felt a surge of power. She hadn't stuck her finger in an electrical socket, no, no she'd stuck her finger into the whole power grid itself. Nina had never felt anything so powerful. Hell, not even Anubis felt so powerful.

"Whatever you are, I need to keep you far away from whoever wants you. They most definitely are not up to anything good," Nina muttered to herself before sliding the rod into the bag she'd brought with her. She'd need a better way to store it, but at the moment she just needed to leave before she lost the nerve to do so.

Eddie, Fabian, and Patricia had followed her into the chamber, so Nina turned to them. "I guess this is goodbye."

"Be careful Nina," Eddie begged pulling Nina in for a hug. "Or I'll be forced to die coming and saving you, and then, with my dying breath, I'll use your secret name to order you to be safe."

Nina chuckled at the thought. "I'm glad for this last week. It's been hell but… but it was good to be together again. I'd been so busy protecting you from Senkhara that I never got a chance to get to know you. Now I have, and I'm glad. I always wanted a big brother."

"Sorry to break up this love fest, but does anyone else hear that noise?"

It took Nina a moment to realize what Patricia was talking about, but when she did it was too late. Everything happened all at once: the ground began to shake and tilt, Patricia and Eddie fell backwards, Patricia grabbed onto the Ram of Mendes instinctively, she called out Eddie's name in an ancient language, he grabbed her hand, red light flowed between them…

And then Nina knew that, in trying to save Eddie, she'd succeeded in killing him right then and there. Because he was the Osirian again alright, and it was going to kill him.


	29. Chapter 29

AN: I just realized I never did a disclaimer in the first chapter, so I'll do it in the last- I don't own House of Anubis, though, if it isn't too arrogant, I'm going to say that I should.

* * *

Chapter 29

Eddie wondered for a second why he didn't feel tortured. Osiris and Nina both had implied that he'd have Hell to pay if he was near Nina after getting the Osirian spirit back. Instead he just felt… actually Eddie felt wonderful. He felt driven, focused. Every one of his senses tightened, his thoughts clarified. He felt right.

He also felt terrified, but that was good. It was great actually. He felt terrified because Nina was terrified. Nina's heart felt ready to explode, and Eddie could feel it!

Nina's terror was the first thing Eddie noticed, but the second thing he noticed was the warm heat spreading across his chest. For a moment he wondered if this was his terrible death, but he didn't feel like he was dying. Eddie felt better than he had in years. He felt like he was on top of the world. No, no he felt like he was the world.

"You're not dying," Nina whispered, moving towards where Eddie and Patricia lie. Eddie realized that he had, at some point, pulled him and Patricia away from the part of the room that had turned sideways, yet he didn't actually remember doing it. Whatever the case Nina was right. He and Patricia were safe. He wasn't dying. "Why aren't you dying?"

"Don't sound so disappointed," Eddie told her with a smirk. He couldn't remember seeing Nina so confused. Her eyebrows wrinkled, her lips bunched up, it was actually really amusing. "But I think it has something to do with these fancy amulets you gave us."

Blinking, Nina reached out to grab the amulet, only pulling back once she sensed its immense power.

 _Wait, Eddie, how do you know it has immense power?_

And yet he did. He couldn't see it, not the way he imagined Nina probably could, but he could sense it. He could hear it calling to him, the same way the tunnels were once again calling to him. Everything let off a little message-safe, not safe, really not safe- and the amulet did as well. It screamed serenity, protection. It held an aura that reminded Eddie somewhat of himself actually.

Well not himself, of the Osirian spirit which was once again in him.

"Am am an idiot," Nina declared, finally breaking into a wide smile. "Of course! The Osirian spirit is cursed so the amulet doesn't do anything about that, because it's a part of you, but the curse on the spirit is separate, and the amulet is blocking it! You're safe. I…"

Fabian moved towards Nina, grabbing her shoulder and squeezing it. "You can stay, if you want. You don't have to stay with me, but you can stay."

When Nina turned to Fabian, Eddie knew that she had forgotten those watching her completely. He had a sense of her feelings, something he could vaguely recall happening in those few days they'd spent together after he'd stopped Senkhara. Nina was… elated was probably the best adjective. He too understood what it felt like to realize that you could spend the rest of your life with someone you loved.

"I want to stay with you. I'm sick of destiny forcing me to leave you. I want… we're not destined but I want to try to make it work. I want to try."

Eddie decided he'd do his little sister a favor and kissed Patricia. It was the perfect distraction. Of course he was too busy kissing the woman he loved to notice if Nina and Fabian took the opportunity for a little kissing themselves, but the feelings Eddie was getting over his bond made him pretty sure that they'd come to their senses.

Good riddance it had taken long enough.

"So everything is good, right?" Patricia asked looking between their little crew. It was a fair question after all. They'd destroyed the room the rod and the Ram had been in. Hell Patricia probably didn't even realize that the name she'd called out had been the wrong one!

"Yes, everything is good. I'm the Osirian again, this amulet is making so being near Nina isn't killing me, Nina and Fabian are going to go hook up…"

"You're horrible," Fabian told his best friend, but the little grin Eddie noted on Nina's face said that, perhaps, Fabian's prudish sensibilities were going to get tested.

Eddie thought he should just tell his dad to move out for the night so they could all de-stress and reacquaint.

"Well, not everything is good," Nina admitted flipping open her bag and pulling out the rod. When she'd first grabbed it Eddie had assumed it was nothing of importance, but now that he was back in touch with his Osirian spirit the rod made his skin crawl. Every cell in his body was screaming that he should steal that rod from Nina and cast it into the deepest pit he could find. It was dangerous. It was very, very dangerous.

Perhaps Nina sensed Eddie's intentions, because she glared at him and jammed the rod back into her bag. "Someone was still willing to kill Cassie to get this, which means it has to be important. It's strange; I almost recognize it."

"We'll figure it out," Fabian promised, and Eddie didn't miss the way he grabbed Nina's hand and gave it a tight squeeze. "Whoever wants that rod isn't going to get it. We'll protect it. We'll stop them. Whatever is coming we'll fight it. Sibuna saves the day, one last time."

Nina shook her head, and a prickle of guilt flooded across her face. She was falling back into her worries, the worries that the past week should have eliminated, yet somehow had failed to do. Eddie and Fabian, apparently, would just have to keep trying to reassure her. "You have to understand that with me… with me it's never the last time. This is my life, and now Eddie is back in it too. It's never the last time."

"Well you're right, I am in this too, and I don't plan on abandoning the purpose I just fought to get back. So if you're stuck fighting for the rest of your life then I'll be right here fighting with you and keeping your Chosen One hero complex from getting you killed."

Patricia stepped forward and practically glared at Nina. Eddie had no doubt that, if there had been some liquid around, Nina would be drenched. "And I'm stuck with this idiot, so you're stuck with me. Besides this all started when I locked you in the attic. If I never did that there would be no Sibuna at all. You can't get rid of me that easily."

Nina turned towards Fabian, desperation in her eyes and quivering lips, "Fabian? You're the only one without some sort of destiny forcing you into this. You can leave, have a normal life, make up with Eva and go back to how things were a week ago."

"You're right, this isn't my destiny, but I'm not leaving. You're not getting away from me one more time. Once you've seen the kind of things we saw you can't live a normal life. This is my normal. This is my life. I'm here, just as Eddie and Patricia are. I'll fight with you for the rest of my life. Hell, we know ghosts exist. If I die I'll come back to fight with you one last time."

"Sibuna?"

Eddie grinned as he raised his hand over his eye. As he did so, a vision passed over him. He saw Amber trying to explain the name Sibuna to Fabian and Nina. He saw the whole Sibuna crew, as they changed and grew, from Alfie to Willow. He saw the Cup of Ankh, Senkhara, Ammutt, Ra. He even saw things he was sure hadn't happened. He saw Amber again, looking a bit older but plenty fashionable, and she was yelling that they'd continued Sibuna without her. He saw Jerome up at Anubis House with Poppy, yelling at them for ever letting her get involved in something that had gotten him in so much trouble. He saw Nina aging, her smile darkening some, but never ceasing to lighten whenever Fabian walked into the room.

He saw fights, and celebrations. He saw friends old and new gathering to work through a world none of them truly understood. He even saw Patricia, Fabian and Nina crying over a gravestone, and he knew it was his, but it was okay, because they were all old. Besides, there were some children there too, and those children were ready to tell the stories of the Chosen One and the Osirian, not for the last time, but for the first.

END

* * *

I'm going to be honest- this wasn't the original ending. In fact this was supposed to be only the exposition, the little plot hole Touchstone of Ra created that I had to work through. It ended up be 45k worth of exposition, however, and I just don't think that says anything good about where the rest of the story would go. Sorry if this disappoints you. Perhaps I'll someday write the rest of the story, explain what's really going on with this rod Nina grabbed, or perhaps one of you want to write it for me. I'll give you all my notes, not that I have many. It's an interesting story, but it's not this story. This story was one of our little gang coming to terms with their pasts and their destinies. This was a story of them realizing that it never has to be the last time. We'll all a part of Sibuna-yesterday, today, and tomorrow. We'll never leave that behind, not really, and that is the story I needed to tell.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for reading. You've been absolutely amazing. Those of you who have reviewed- you really keep me going.

Special thanks to Violinrocker12. She was the first person who ever read one of my House of Anubis fanfics, three years ago now, and she's the reason I say people over the internet can become friends. She inspires me to write, and inspires me to always come back to Nina and Eddie. (She also is the first person I ever stalked, so remember to never tell people your name and state over the internet. It took me 38 minutes to find out where she lived, and I was 15. Stay safe children!)

Also thanks to Gryffindork. If any of you have read her reviews, you'll know that she's never actually seen House of Anubis, she's just my 'daughter' aka one of the Freshman at my school I have adopted. Still her firm devotion to this fic led me to write many days when I didn't want to, so I think we can make her an honorary member of Sibuna. I'll be sure to gather her sacrifice and make her take the pledge next time I see her.

But truly, thank you so much to everyone who has read this fic and all my fics. I feel like I'll always come back to writing for this fandom, but I had to do it 'one last time' before I graduated high school. Writing my Ring of Osiris series Freshman year helped me adjust to high school, and so writing one more House of Anubis fic before I graduated seemed like the way to go. Thank you for joining in this journey.

Hope


End file.
